Name: Quail Cooked in Vine Leaves with Pesto
Yield: Serves 2-4
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 8-12 vine leaves, fresh and blanched or brined and rinsed; 4 oven ready quail; 2 medium size cloves garlic, chopped; 60 g (2 oz) Parmesan cheese, freshly grated; ¼ teaspoon salt (optional); 100 g (3½ oz) basil leaves; 30 g (1 oz) pine kernels; 8 tablespoons olive oil; 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation info

Serves
2-4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Complete Book of Herbs

By Geraldene Holt

Published 1991

About

The small delicious quail is now more commonly farmed than reared in the wild. The bird has been wrapped and roasted in vine leaves for centuries in France; however, a thin layer of pesto or a herb butter spread over the meat and under the vine leaf does wonders for the flavour.

Ingredients

8-12 vine leaves, fresh and blanched or brined and rinsed
4 oven ready

Method

Make the pesto by measuring the basil, olive oil, pine kernels, garlic and salt into a blender or food processor and whizzing until you have an even paste. Alternatively, pound the ingredients together with a pestle in a mortar. Gradually work in the freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Spoon the sauce into a dish (any left over from this recipe is best saved for serving with hot pasta).

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