By Ippolita Douglas Scotti:
Happy New Year to everybody in America! Congratulations to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. It's time to celebrate!
Why not start with a beautiful, festive Italian recipe: the stuffed guinea fowl. A flavorsome recipe that includes an increasingly popular bird (an alternative to the same boring chicken) and a delicious stuffing that makes a fitting tribute to winter with its spicy helping of Italian sausages and the precious flower of the winter kitchen, the artichoke.
This wonderful recipe is easy and needs only simple and genuine ingredients. Ask your butcher to debone the guinea fowl, then make the filling and roast it over fire. All the classic Italian winter aromas will fill your home!
A classy and authentic comfort food, this dish is sure to surprise your guests with something unique and delicious.
Serve with a glass (or two) of red wine, such as Chianti Classico! Of course, you can never go wrong with a cold glass of champagne to celebrate new beginnings!
Roasted Guinea Fowl with Artichoke Stuffing
1 medium guinea fowl, deboned (ask your butcher to debone the bird)
1 bay leaf
1 clove of garlic
Salt and pepper
1 glass white wine
2 cups chicken stock
Extra Virgin olive oil
1 tsp butter
Stuffing:
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbs. (25 g) butter
Sage leaves
1 medium egg
2 artichokes
1/2 lb (200 g) sausage
1/4 cup (100 g) Parmesan, grated
2 oz (50 g) breadcrumbs soaked in 1/2 glass of milk
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper
First make the stuffing:
Soften the chopped onion in butter, then stir in the sage and cook for 2 mins more with salt and pepper. Scrape into a bowl with the chopped heart of two artichokes, soaked breadcrumbs, sausage, nutmeg, salt, pepper, Parmesan, and egg and mix together well. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Place the stuffing inside the deboned guinea fowl.
Roll the stuffing tight and seal the roll with a string. Mix the butter with some seasoning (sage, salt, and pepper) and rub on the bird skin.
Get a large pot, drizzle with oil, and add a bay leaf and a clove of garlic. Sit the stuffed guinea fowl in the pot over low fire.
Cover and let cook, rolling the meat to roast every side. Splash with wine and let it evaporate.
Gently add a ladle of chicken stock when needed and let evaporate.
Cook for 25 minutes and serve with roasted potatoes.
Contessa Ippolita Douglas Scotti di Vigileno is a true Italian—born in Florence, Italy, from a long line of eccentric Italian aristocrats, she has traveled the world in search of adventure, romance, and magical, mouth-watering recipes. "Ippo" loves Italian history, especially as it relates to food. Author of There's a Beatle in My Soup, Curcuma e Zenzero (Ginger & Tumeric), 101 Perche Sulla Storia di Firenze (101 questions on Florence History), The Grimore, The Magic of the Moon, and Magic Herbs (all published by Newton Compton Publishers).