The Italian-born chef offers this first course at his restaurant Luca's inside the Hotel Gemma in Florence.
Cover photo by Lorenzo Noccioli
Ingredients - for fresh pasta
- 500 g flour type 00
- 200 g egg yolk
- 100 g egg
- 5 g evo oil
- 1 pinch of salt
Method
Mix all ingredients together using a planetary mixer until a smooth dough is obtained.
Allow to rest 24 hours in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap.
Once the resting time has passed, the dough is ready to be rolled out and stuffed with the filling.
Ingredients - for the pigeon stuffing
- 1.5 kg white onion
- 1 kg pigeon legs
- No. 2 bay leaves
- 1 L red wine
- 2 L chicken broth
Method
Peel and finely chop the onion and stew it with evo oil until caramelized.
Add the pigeon legs and cook for about 10 minutes, after which add the liquids and bay leaves.
Simmer until the meat pulls away from the bones.
Separate the thighs from the onions and strip by hand, taking care not to leave the bones behind.
Blend the meat with a blender until a pate is obtained, helping if necessary with a little of the cooking liquid.
Ingredients - for the pigeon cooking stock
- 2 kg pigeon bones
- 300 g onion
- 300 g celery
- 300 g carrot
- 1 L red wine
Method
Clean the vegetables, roughly chop them and brown them in a saucepan with olive oil until roasted. At the same time, arrange the pigeon bones on a baking sheet and roast in a 220°C ventilated oven for about 25 minutes.
Drain the bones from the fat they will have released in cooking and add to the vegetables.
Deglaze with red wine and once the alcohol has evaporated, cover everything with very cold water.
Simmer very slowly for about 10 hours, after which strain the resulting mixture and return it to the stove, still over a very low flame, and cook until firm.
Dish composition
- Cappelletti of pigeon
- Butter and thyme emulsion
- Pigeon cooking stock
Cook the cappelletti in plenty of salted water, finish cooking in the pan by creating an emulsion with butter, water, thyme and a pinch of salt. Plate the cappelletti by tasseling them with the butter and thyme emulsion and finish the dish with the pigeon cooking sauce.
