Francesco at restaurant La Cantina wanted to show us his way of cooking pigeon, unfortunately he had none in the fridge. As he began to eye up one in the street the butcher arrived in the nick of time with a large quail and the street pigeon got to live another day! If you have ever roasted pheasant, partridge, rabbit, duck or quail and found it dry then you will know why I am more than happy to pot roast every time. Basically birds are not designed to be roasted. Their tough legs have higher collagen levels than their breasts so they need longer cooking. But if you get the legs rights you have probably overcooked the breast and, conversely, if the breast is juicy the legs are pink and tough. The answer? Joint the bird and cook the pieces separately or pot roast slowly until the meat falls from the bones. Italian sausages have a great flavour as they contain garlic, wine and no bread. If you omit them add a couple of garlic cloves instead.