Roast Quail with Chorizo and Morcilla

The quail half way through cooking

In September after getting back from our holiday I spotted that quail were on special offer and decided to give them a try. Lauren was showing an interest in trying same game after seeing pheasants while out shopping with her grandparents and I thought quail would be a good way to continue, we had tried a roast guinea fowl for Sunday dinner earlier in the year and it had been a resounding success. We had been to a great deli whilst in Porthleven and picked up some delicious morcilla, a Spanish black pudding and some chorizo and I thought they would go together well as quail seems like a bird I've seen a lot on Spanish menus and in recipes.

Roast Quail with Chorizo and Morcilla

A large onion cut into crescents

2 large, roughly chopped cloves of garlic

2 morcilla, each one chopped into 3 or 4 chunks (you can use small black puddings as an alternative)

2 chorizo, cut as the morcilla (if you have a ring of chorizo just cut about 6-8 chunks)

4 quail

Fresh rosemary

Salt and pepper

A couple of glasses of red wine

Preheat the oven to GM6/180C.

In a pan heat a glug of olive oil and add the onions, garlic, morcilla and chorizo. Fry gently until the sausage is warm and the onions have started to cook, but not so that the garlic gets burnt. Add a couple of glasses of red wine, along with the rosemary and some seasoning. Bring quickly to the boil in order to cook off the alcohol, but don't let it reduce as the wine will help to keep the quail tender and juicy when roasting.

Add the contents of the pan to a roasting dish and return the pan to the heat. Add another glug of olive oil. Season the quail with salt and pepper inside and out and brown the birds a couple at a time in the hot oil.

When they are browned all over, place them on top of the onions and sausages and roast in the oven  for about 25 minutes. Let the bird rest for 5 minutes before serving, it's OK for the meat to be a little pink as game doesn't go white like chicken, but it should look cooked and be piping hot all the way through. I usually check mine by ensuring the juices are not bloody.

We served ours with some new potatoes and asparagus tossed in olive oil and roasted with thyme and whole cloves of garlic at GM7/200C, the potatoes for the first 25-30 minutes and then add the asparagus for the last 10 minutes or so and plenty of boiled veg - carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.

The guide for quail if one per person as a starter and 2 for a main meal, but one each was sufficient with a big pile of vegetables.