Pan-Roasted Guinea Fowl Wrapped in Prosciutto
Roast Guinea Fowl Stuffed with Pomegranate and Thyme
Grilled Pigeon Marinated in Valpolicella di Classico with Rosemary
Pan-Roasted Chicken Stuffed with Mascarpone and Prosciutto
Roast Pheasant with Quince and Sage
Roast Partridge Wrapped in Pancetta and Stuffed with Thyme
Loin of Pork (or Wild Boar) Wrapped in Coppa di Parma
Roast Spring Lamb Stuffed and Wrapped with Rosemary
In Italy you always find simple roasted and grilled meats on the menu. The beef of Tuscany, the pork of Emilia Romagna, where the Parmesan cheese is made and the by-product is fed to the pigs, the young lamb and kid from Rome. Ducks, chickens and guinea fowl are still kept by almost every Italian household with a patch of garden or small farm. They are usually fed vegetable scraps and maize corn, they wander freely and subsequently taste amazing.
The Italians are very particular and appreciative of the flavour of their meat which is usually cooked simply with herbs, garlic and wine. We have developed most of our meat and game recipes from dishes eaten there.
For our programme we were lucky to watch wild pheasants being cooked in a very special way at the Felsina wine estate in Chianti classico. That kind of experience inspires us when cooking in the restaurant. It’s how we came to match to distinct flavours of pancetta and prosciutto with game and poultry; the strong flavour of Coppa with pork; the unique flavour of balsamic vinegar with our steamed and roasted duck.
We spend a lot of time talking to butchers and game dealers, working with them to broaden their range of produce. This allows us to cook with the most suitable ingredient for any given recipe. We love the chance to use older, free-range hens for the Bollito Misto and find different varieties of duck – certain types are perfect for boiling while other breeds roast more successfully. Without working with our suppliers this would be impossible.
You will notice from our selection of recipes in this chapter that wine plays a large part in our meat cooking. Regionality of wine and food is very important. Not only would a Tuscan not drink a Piedmont wine with his native dish, he would not cook with it either and nor do we.
We love to cook with wine that we plan to drink with the dish, particularly grouse and partridge, usually adding it at the end of roasting so that it doesn’t lose its character. However, when we cook with robust wines like Marsala, we use them from the beginning, not only to add flavour but also because they don’t change enormously during cooking.
Game cookery is something that we love. Here whole guinea fowl are covered with slices of prosciutto to flavour the skin. The birds are slow-cooked on top of the stove with garlic, sage, rosemary and some Marsala. When they are ready, a little milk is added to the juices to make a simple sauce.
Pomegranates grow all over southern Italy. Their sour-sweet flavour here complements the guinea fowl, married with the pungency of fresh thyme and the sweetness of Marsala.
We use Bresse pigeons, which are plump, organically fed and reared to a certain size. (Don’t use a wild wood pigeon, as it will be too tough.) These pigeons cook very quickly; spatchcock them by taking out the breast bone, leaving only the legs on the bone. Put briefly into the marinade made with a fresh, young wine such as Valpolicella.
We have been cooking Bollito Misto since the River Cafe opened. Bollito plays a very special part in Italian cuisine, and it is historically served at New Year. Each ingredient represents different benefits for the coming year: the meats symbolise health, the lentils wealth and the mostarda di Cremona good spirits.
In this recipe we have changed the ingredients to make it lighter. We use a large, mature hen – not a roasting chicken – Barbary ducks and cotechino, and in the summer we cook green vegetables such as spinach and chard in the chicken broth at the end.
This recipe is interesting because the double cooking is oriental in origin. The duck is steamed first to allow the fat to run out, and is then roasted to crisp the skin and cook the flesh, which falls off the bone on serving. Putting balsamic vinegar on the skin while roasting gives it a distinctive flavour.
In this recipe a pocket between the flesh and skin of a boned breast and bit of leg is filled with mascarpone, herbs and a slice of prosciutto. The flavour of the prosciutto permeates the chicken flesh and the cheese melts, moisturising the meat. It also forms a natural sauce, which you deglaze at the end with a little wine.
In Italy you find pheasants everywhere during the season. They are often pot roasted and in Tuscany they cook them with Chianti and tomatoes. Knowing the age of a game bird is important because an older bird will need to be cooked for much longer in the liquid. In this recipe we roast the birds first, then braise them slowly with pancetta, wine and cabbage.
For roasting, we like to choose young hen pheasants, which are usually quite small, rounder, with more flesh than the cocks. Pheasant is hugely complemented by fruit, and quince, with its distinctive strong taste, is in season at the same time.
Instead of lard or bacon on top of a game bird we use pancetta or prosciutto, and simply stuff it with branches of thyme and sage. The strong taste of the game can take these flavours.
It is important to allow the bird to rest before serving.
Wild boar is common in Italy, and they also have excellent pork. In this country they are now cross-breeding pig with wild boar for a pork with a gamey flavour. As this is still quite hard to find, we use organic pigs which have a distinctive flavour. They also have a natural marbling of fat. Always ask your butcher about the provenance of his meat and try to buy organic whenever possible.
Here, the boned loin is wrapped in freshly sliced coppa di Parma (shoulder of pork cured in the same way as prosciutto di Parma). This has a smoky flavour, and introduces a juniper taste, as well as keeping the meat moist. This is a Christmas dish, so we roast whole chestnuts in the pan with the meat.
The Italians love the intense perfume of rosemary. We use it to marinate lamb and in this recipe the whole leg of lamb is wrapped in it.