Quail in Sguazet

Recipe by: Lidia Bastianich | from La Cucina Di Lidia: Recipes and Memories from Italy's Adriatic Coast

Cookstr

Course: Main Course

Total Time: Under 1 Hour

Skill Level: Moderate

Cost: Splurge

Photo by: Joseph De Leo

Although this recipe calls for quail, we often had squab the same way at Busoler, where I have a cousin, Renato, who’d stand in the courtyard and just whistle the pigeons down. They’d land all over him, and he’d walk into the house with our dinner perched on his head and shoulders. Even the youngest squabs found in the market will be somewhat larger than commercially farmed quail, so the number of birds should be adjusted accordingly if you substitute squab. If there’s a hunter in your family, wild quail or dove would, of course, be much closer to what we ate in Istria than anything to be found at your local butcher’s.

Yield: Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

8 quail, about 7 ounces each
1/3 cup olive oil
1 large onion, diced
¼ cup chicken livers, minced
2 slices bacon, diced
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, or ½ teaspoon dried
4 whole cloves
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine
1½ cups chicken stock
1 recipe basic or fried polenta

Directions

Remove any traces of viscera from the quail cavities. With the tip of a small knife, make a small slit in one thigh of each bird and tuck the end of the other leg into it. Pat the birds dry and set aside.

In a large nonreactive skillet, heat the olive oil over medium flame. Add the onion, chicken livers, bacon, bay leaves, rosemary, and cloves, and sauté about 5 minutes, until the onion is wilted. Push the mixture to the side of the pan farthest from the center of the burner.

Season the quail with salt and pepper, add them to the pan, and brown them on both sides, turning once, about 4 minutes on each side. If necessary, reduce the heat to prevent the onion from burning.

Add the tomato paste, wine, and chicken stock, and bring to a simmer, shaking the skillet and scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon. Cook 5 minutes, turning the quail once. Remove the quail to an ovenproof platter, cover with foil, and keep warm in a low oven. Bring the contents of the skillet to a boil and cook until thick enough to coat a spoon, about 10 or 15 minutes. Pass the sauce through a very fine sieve, pressing down hard on the solids, and pour over the quail. Serve immediately on beds of basic polenta or flanked with lozenges of fried polenta.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Nutrients per serving (% daily value)

Nutritional information includes 1/8 teaspoon of added salt per serving, but does not include Chicken stock or basic or fried polenta. For nutritional information on Chicken stock or basic or fried polenta, please follow the links above.

Calories 668kcal (33%)

Calcium 46mg (5%)

Vitamin C 19mg (31%)

Vitamin A 394mcg RAE (13%)

Potassium 645mg

Magnesium 64mg

Protein 45g

Sugar 3g

Fiber 1g

Total Carbohydrate 6g

Cholesterol 192mg (64%)

Sodium 446mg (19%)