Roast Grouse with Cotechino Stuffing - Mediterranean

Categories: Twelve, Chefs, Of, Christmas
Yield: 1 servings

----------------------------------STUFFING----------------------------------
2 sm Red onions; finely chopped
2 Cloves garlic; finely
-chopped
2 Stalks celery; finely
-chopped
1 Carrot; finely chopped
4 oz Chicken livers; diced
1/2 ts Soft thyme leaves
3 oz Soft white breadcrumbs
12 Sage leaves
3 tb Good olive oil
8 fl Dry red wine
1 Cotechino sausage; (Italian
-spiced
; sausage), casing
; removed

-----------------------------------BIRDS-----------------------------------
6 Grouse or partridge
1 ts Soft thyme leaves
12 sl Prosciutto
4 oz Dried ceps; soaked for 1/2
; hour, drained,
; squeezed and
; chopped (reserve
; soaking liquor)
Olive oil
4 oz Chicken livers; chopped
1 Onion; finely diced
3 Garlic cloves; finely
-chopped
12 fl Dry red wine
Salt and freshly ground
-black pepper

Cook the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and thyme in the oil until soft but
not brown. Crumble the cotechino sausage into the onion mix with the sage
and fry for 10 minutes. Add the chicken liver and cook for a further 2
minutes. Add the wine, and boil to reduce by half. Season with salt and
pepper, allow to cool then fold in enough breadcrumbs to bind the stuffing.

Stuff the birds, and wrap each in two slices of prosciutto. Preheat the
oven to its hottest setting.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the garlic, onion, thyme and chopped
mushrooms until the onion is softening. Add the mushroom juice and cook
until no liquid remains.

In a roasting pan, heat some olive oil and brown the birds on each side.
Roast in the hot oven for 10 minutes, turn the birds and roast for a
further 5 minutes with the mushroom mix and the wine.

Remove the birds and keep warm. Stir the juices in the pan and add a little
butter to enrich the sauce. Serve the birds with polenta and pangrattato.

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