Pigeon, Goose and Cranberry Pot Belly Pie

 

Wood pigeon and goose breast with cranberry pie and Stilton

The celebration that is Scottish Food and Drink September 2025 is well and truly under way and wild game is of course something that takes a very prominent place in Scottish food culture and recipes all year round. Though much of the game in Scotland - as is the case elsewhere - is seasonal, modern freezing, vacuum packing and other preservation techniques can ensure a lot of it can be made available all year round. In this particular recipe, while the wood pigeon breast is fresh, the wild goose breast is from last winter's shooting season and had been frozen and defrosted prior to being included in this tasty wild game pot belly pie recipe.

Note also that in this instance the pie was allowed to cool completely before being served with the Stilton cheese.

Cook Time

Prep time: 45 min (includes 15 min resting time minimum for pie when removed from oven)

Cook time: 30 min

Ready in: 1 hour 15 min

Yields: 1 serving

Wood pigeon breast and piece of wild goose breast

Ingredients

• 1 skinless pigeon breast, moderately finely chopped
• Portion of skinless goose breast of similar size to pigeon breast, moderately finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons cranberry sauce, 1 for pie filling and 1 to serve
• Salt and black pepper
• Generous pinch dried thyme
• 4 ounce/110g piece of puff pastry
• Flour for rolling pastry
• Beaten egg for glazing pastry
• Little bit of vegetable oil for greasing baking sheet
• 3 triangular wedges/slices Stilton cheese
• Little bit of roughly chopped Italian (flat leaf) parsley to garnish

Chopped and seasoned wood pigeon and goose breasts

Method

Put the chopped pigeon and goose breasts into a large glass bowl. Add a teaspoon of cranberry sauce and season with salt, black pepper and the dried thyme. Mix very well to fully combine, ideally by hand for best results.

Roll the pastry out on a clean, dry, floured surface to an approximate square, just large enough that you can use a 7-inch (18cm) diameter plate as a template to cut a circle from it.

Goose and pigeon meat is arranged in centre of pastry circle

The goose and pigeon combination should now be rolled roughly into a ball and flattened in the centre of the pastry circle. It is important not to compact the meat too tightly, or it will not cook evenly. It is equally important that there remains enough of a pastry border that it can be gathered up around the edges and twisted at the top to seal. It's better to have a little of the meat combination left over than for your pot belly pie to bust in the oven!

Assembled pigeon and goose breast pot belly pie

Carefully lift the pastry border all around to bring it up and over the pie filling. You need to have enough pastry left at the top that you can gently twist it to seal and form a small swirl like pastry shape on top of the pie. A large skewer or similar implement should then be used to poke 2 or 3 small steam vents around the swirl on top of the pie.

Leave the shaped pie for the rolled pastry to rest while you preheat your oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6/400F. Lift the pie on to a lightly oiled baking tray or sheet and glaze with the beaten egg immediately before placing into the hot oven for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is beautifully crisp and golden.

Take the cooked pie from the oven and allow it to sit and rest for 15 minutes.

Pigeon and goose pot belly pie with Stilton

The pot belly pie can either be carefully cut in half for plating or plated whole, along with the wedges of Stilton cheese, a second spoonful of cranberry sauce and a little garnish of chopped parsley.