Woodcock with Polenta

Name: Woodcock with Polenta
Yield: Serves 3
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 3 woodcocks; 3 thin slices pancetta or unsmoked bacon, chopped; 1 pound cornmeal/polenta (about 3 cups); 2 ounces raw ham, finely chopped (about ½ cup); 2 ounces pancetta or unsmoked bacon, finely chopped (about ½ cup); ¼ cup (½ stick) butter; 1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped; 2 sprigs of parsley, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon celery, finely chopped; ½ cup Marsala or medium dry sherry; 1 bay leaf; 6 juniper berries, crushed; 2½ quarts salted water; salt and pepper; 1 tablespoon tomato paste

Preparation info

Serves
3

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Game Cookbook

By Clarissa Dickson Wright and Johnny Scott

Published 2004

About

This is an Italian way of serving woodcock and it is very agreeable, especially if you have a lot of them. I never have that many and resented testing the recipe!

Ingredients

2½ quarts salted water
1 pound cornmeal/polenta (about 3

Europe
Italy
Main course
Mediterranean
Gluten-free
Winter
Autumn

Method

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Boil the water and pour in the cornmeal/polenta. Reduce the heat and stir constantly for 30 minutes until the polenta comes away from the sides of the pan. Tip it onto a clean counter and flatten to ½ inch, then let cool for 30 minutes. Divide into 12