Pot-roast Guinea fowl

---

On our many holidays in France with the camper van, surfboards, boogie boards and canoes, we would often buy Guinea fowl from the supermarkets (Pintade in French). It has a flavour not unlike a very good chicken, though can often be a little dry. We eventually we discovered that covering it with streaky bacon while roasting imporoved the results.

As a pot roast, this recipe has the flavour of the bird without the dryness.

Ingredients

• 1 Guinea fowl, oven ready
• 1 spring of rosemary
• 3 fresh sage leaves
• 50g (2 oz) slices pancetta
• 40 g (1.5 oz) butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 175 ml (6 fl oz) dry white wine
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Some of the Guinea fowl we have bought in Rural French butchers have been poorly plucked, just check and pull any remaining stubble
2. Check for bagged giblets, remove and discard
3. Season the inside of the bird with salt and pepper
4. Add one slice of pancetta, 15 g (1/2 oz) of the butter and all of the herbs to the cavity as well
5. Season the outside well with salt and pepper
6. Cover the breast with the remaining pancetta and truss with kitchen string
7. Heat the olive oil and the remaining butter in a pan and sauté the bird until browned, turning often
8. Add half of the wine and cook until it all evaporates, place a lid on the pot, lower the heat and simmer for 50 minutes
9. Remove the pancetta slices from the breast and lay in the bottom of the pot, repalce the lid and simmer for another 10 minutes
10. Remove the bird from the pot and keep warm
11. Add the rest of the wine to the pot, increase the heat and cook until the liquid has reduced by half
12. Cut the bird into pieces, arrange on a sering dish and pour over the juices.

Serving suggestions

Serve hot with boiled potatoes and broccoli