Farmed pigeon for cooking
A small farmed pigeon can be roasted whole and finished in a sauce. For palomba alla ghiotta, choose food-grade, oven-ready birds of similar size, about 450 g each.
- Selected form
- Whole farmed bird, plucked and eviscerated.
- Recipe size
- About 450 g per bird; choose birds of similar size.
- For the oven
- Plain and unfilled, with head and feet removed.
Keep the birds the same size
Buy the birds already plucked and eviscerated. Check the cavity for any separately packed giblets before following the recipe, then pat the skin dry. Keep the birds in one uncrowded layer in the covered roasting pan. Use the stated thermometer endpoint and preserve the per-bird size when changing the quantity.
A whole bird for the ghiotta
Palomba alla ghiotta belongs to the cooking of Todi in Umbria. Our home-oven version uses farmed pigeon, roasted under cover and then finished in its wine sauce. Ask for whole farmed birds already plucked and cleaned for the oven.
Return the meat to the sauce
In palomba alla ghiotta, the roasting juices join the sauce before the carved meat finishes at a gentle simmer. Spoon the sauce over the serving pieces while they are hot. Allow one small whole bird per serving.
Cook with it
Ask for a plain, oven-ready bird
Specify a farmed pigeon intended for food, about 450 g, with head and feet removed and the cavity cleaned. Ask for it plain and unfilled so the recipe’s pancetta and sauce quantities remain your own additions. Check whether giblets are packed separately, and confirm the product’s fresh or frozen state and storage instructions.
Keep it chilled until preparation
Keep the bird refrigerated as directed on its label and prepare it within the stated date. If bought frozen, follow its refrigerator-thawing directions before cooking. Retain the label, place the package in a container that catches any juices and clean the work surface and utensils after preparing raw poultry.
