There are some classic dishes at certain London restaurants that we’ll just never tire of. There might be other starters on the menu at St John, but we’ll always order the bone marrow. And at Bocca di Lupo, we always have the shaved radish and celeriac salad with pomegranate; pecorino and truffle oil. At Mourad Mazouz’s always gorgeous and evergreen glamorous Momo, we can’t get over the pigeon pastilla, which comes with the most delicious orange confit. It’s one of our top ten favourite things to eat in London, and trumps every version of the same dish that we’ve eaten in Morocco.
PIGEON PASTILLA (SERVES 10)
4 squab pigeons
4 medium white onions (sliced)
2 bunches of coriander
1 bunch of parsley
10g of grated fresh ginger
Salt and black pepper
3 pinches of saffron
7 eggs
250g of butter
20g of caster sugar
3 pieces of cinnamon stick
5g cinnamon powder
2 teaspoons of ginger powder
2 teaspoons of turmeric
5g of icing sugar
15g of toasted flaked almond
20g of roasted whole almond (chopped)
8 sheets of brick pastry (or filo pastry )
ORANGE CONFIT
1 orange
1 litre of water
1.250kg caster sugar
0.250kg cinnamon stick
10 pieces cardamom
5 star anise
10 cloves
Cut the unpeeled orange into thin half inch slices using a sharp knife. Put the sugar, water and all the spices in a large saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Lower the heat and add the orange slices. Simmer, partially covered, for about 60-75 minutes or until oranges are glacé and the syrup is thick and reduced.
Season the pigeon with salt and pepper, and brown it quickly with some olive oil and a pinch of ginger powder, turmeric and cinnamon powder. Remove it from the pan and add the white onions with the rest of the spice – cinnamon powder and stick, turmeric, ginger, saffron, caster sugar, grated fresh ginger, coriander, parsley, salt and pepper – and cook it for about two minutes. Remove from the pan. Add 230g of butter and put the pigeon back into the pan and cover with the onions, put on the lid and cook gently for 45 minutes.
While the pigeon is cooking, roast the whole and flaked almond separately in the oven, and chop one bunch of coriander. When the whole almonds cool down, chop them all.
Remove the pigeon from the pan, and put to one side to cool down. Beat the eggs with a fork and add them to the onion until it’s scrambled. Set aside. Separate the flesh of the pigeon from its bones, cut into small cubes and add it to the onion and eggs. Add the chopped almonds into the mixture and the fresh chopped coriander.
Spread the rest of the butter over the pastry (two leaves, one on top of the other), put the mixture in the middle and add two more buttered leaves. Close them to form a nice round shape, approximately one centimetre thick and cook the pastilla in the oven at 180°C for 15 minutes or until golden brown. When cooked, sprinkle the pastilla with icing sugar and cinnamon powder, garnish with flaked almonds on top. Serve with the orange confit.