FARAONA ARROSTA
E SALSA PEVERADA

ROAST GUINEA FOWL WITH PEVERADA SAUCE

Poultry is very popular in Veneto. As for the peverada sauce, a recipe for it is found in the first recipe book of dishes from Veneto written in the fourteenth century. It also goes very well with rabbit and game. Choose a free-range guinea fowl raised outdoors, its meat will be darker and tastier, similar to pheasant. It is cooked like chicken.

SERVES 4 PREPARATION TIME: 30 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR 10 MINUTES

6 sage leaves

2 rosemary stalks

3 garlic cloves, halved

100 g (3¹/₂ oz) pancetta or bacon, thinly sliced

1 large guinea fowl

2 tablespoons olive oil

125 ml (4 fl oz/¹/₂ cup) dry white wine

THE PEVERADA SAUCE

200 g (7 oz) chicken livers + the livers from the guinea fowl

185 ml (6 fl oz/³/₄ cup) olive oil

2 garlic cloves

Zest and juice of 1–2 lemons

100 g (3¹/₂ oz) sopressa (Venetian salami), or 8 anchovy fillets, chopped

60 g (2¹/₄ oz) capers, rinsed and chopped

1 bunch of flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas 6). Put a couple of sage leaves, a small rosemary stalk, 1 garlic clove and a slice of pancetta inside the guinea fowl and cover the fowl with thin slices of pancetta tied on with kitchen string. Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole dish on medium–high heat, add the remaining garlic, sage, rosemary and the guinea fowl and brown on all sides. Add the wine and let it bubble for 1 minute, season with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, regularly basting the fowl with its juices.

To make the sauce: Clean the chicken and guinea fowl livers and chop them finely with a knife or in a food processor. In a saucepan, heat the oil with a garlic clove (remove it when the oil is very hot) and the lemon zest, then the sopressa (or anchovies), capers and chopped liver and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring. At the end of the cooking time, add the lemon juice, season generously with pepper, and add the parsley. Leave on low heat for a few more minutes, then turn off the heat. Cut the guinea fowl into 4 pieces, serve on a dish and pour over the sauce, or serve on a bed of Savoy cabbage.

VARIATION

You can replace the lemon juice with wine vinegar, increasing the quantities slightly, which will result in a more acidic sauce.