Sugo di Piccione: Squab, Dove or Pigeon Ragu

Name: Sugo di Piccione: Squab, Dove or Pigeon Ragu
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 6 h
Total time: 6 h 30 min
Yield: 8 people
Ingredients: 12 to 20 whole doves or pigeons, or 4 dark-meat grouse; salt; A little olive oil; 2 quarts wild game or beef stock; 2 cups red wine; 1 6 ounce can tomato paste; 3 carrots, chopped; 3 celery stalks, chopped; 1 large onion, chopped; 4 cloves garlic, chopped; 1 handful dried porcini mushrooms; 12 black peppercorns, crushed; 12 juniper berries, crushed; 12 allspice berries, crushed; 1 star anise; 6 whole cloves or 1/2 teaspoon ground; 3 bay leaves; 4 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter; Black pepper to taste; sherry or red wine vinegar to taste; 1 pound pasta, homemade or dried; Cheese for grating

User Reviews

5.0

18 reviews

Excellent

Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
6 hrs
Total Time
6 hrs 30 mins
Servings
8 people
Course
Main Course
Cuisine
Italian

Sugo di Piccione: Squab, Dove or Pigeon Ragu

Elizabeth Hodge

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While I use doves and pigeons for this recipe, you can use ducks, geese, grouse (see note below), rails or really any dark meat animal. The key is to long simmer the tough parts of the animal, and finely grind the tender parts to finish it.

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Ingredients

Servings

12 to 20 whole doves or pigeons, or 4 dark-meat grouse
salt
A little olive oil
2 quarts wild game or beef stock
2 cups red wine
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 handful dried porcini mushrooms (optional)
12 black peppercorns, crushed
12 juniper berries, crushed
12 allspice berries, crushed
1 star anise (optional)
6 whole cloves or 1/2 teaspoon ground
3 bay leaves
4 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Black pepper to taste
sherry or red wine vinegar to taste
1 pound pasta, homemade or dried
Cheese for grating

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Instructions

Cut off the breast meat from all the birds and set aside. Salt the carcasses well and coat them with a little oil. Roast the carcasses in an oven at 400F until they are well browned, about an hour.
Put the roasted carcasses along with everything in the ingredient list up to the butter into a large stockpot. Add another quart of water. Pour one more quart of water into the roasting pan you just used and use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the browned bits in that pan. Pour this into the stockpot, too.
Bring the sugo to a simmer and let it cook gently, with no lid and slightly bubbling away, as long as you can stand it, about 4 to 8 hours. While this is simmering, grind the breast meat through meat grinder using a fine die. If you don't have a grinder, you can either hand chop the meat or pulse it in a food processor. Keep this in the fridge as the sugo cooks.
As the sugo cooks, mush everything in the pot down every so often. Then, when you are ready, pour the contents of the pot through a chinois, colander or other strainer with large holes that has been set into a large bowl. Wipe out the stockpot and return the free-flowing sauce to that pot. Use a ladle and mash the meat, vegetables, etc. in the colander to remove as much liquid and good stuff as you can. You want the resulting "cake" in the colander to be dryish, as in no liquid dripping from it. Toss that or feed it to the cats.
Mix the strained stuff in with the free-flowing liquid. Get a large, wide pan like a big frying pan and add the butter. Heat it over medium-high heat, and add the ground meat. Stir well and add a little salt. You want to break up the meat as much as possible and brown it well.
When it's well browned and broken up, pour in the sugo and stir well. Bring this to a boil and reduce it to meat sauce consistency. If you can stand it, the sugo will be better if you let this process take an hour or so. But you can boil it down faster if you want.
Get your pasta water ready by bringing a large pot of salty water to a boil. Start boiling your pasta. As it cooks, add salt, black pepper and vinegar to the sugo to taste. Get a big bowl ready.
When the pasta is ready, put it in the big bowl and add a ladle of sugo. Toss to combine. Give everyone some pasta, top with some more sauce and grate some cheese over it.