TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Polenta e Osei alla BergamascaBergamo-Style Quail with Polenta
A Bergamo classic once made with small wild birds such as snipe, now recreated with quail. Pancetta-wrapped quail are browned in butter and sage, gently finished with white wine and served with polenta. Precise cooking is essential.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.
Ingredients (4 servings)
- Whole quailPrepared whole birds, about 120–150 g each.8 birds
- Pancetta, thinly slicedWrap 1 slice around each 1 quail.8 slices
- SagePlace 1 leaf under the pancetta on each 1 quail.8 leaves
- Rosemary2 sprigs
- GarlicCrush.2 cloves
- Unsalted butterForms the sauce and is used for basting during browning.60 g
- Dry white wineDry wine, for the covered cooking stage.100 ml
- Chicken stockFor the sauce. Unsalted store-bought stock is acceptable.200 ml
- Extra virgin olive oil20 ml
- Salt4 g
- Black peppera little
- Polenta cornmealMedium-ground.300 g
- Water (for polenta)1200 ml
- Salt (for polenta)12 g
Method
Wrap quail with sage and pancetta
- 1 Season all over the 8 quail with salt (4 g in total) and black pepper.
- 2 Place 1 sage leaf on each breast, wrap each bird in 1 slice pancetta and tie with kitchen string.
Ready when
Continue when all 8 birds are wrapped and secured with string.
Start cooking the polenta
- 1 Put 1200 ml water and 12 g salt in another heavy saucepan over high heat.
- 2 Switch to a wooden spoon and cook over low heat for 35–40 minutes.
- 3 Just before boiling, lower the heat and gradually whisk in 300 g polenta cornmeal.
- 4 When cooked, cover and keep warm.
- 5 MeanwhileStart while preparing the quail.
Ready when
After 35–40 minutes, it is ready when a spoon track closes slowly.
Brown the quail with butter and sage
- 1 Heat 20 ml olive oil, 30 g butter, 2 rosemary sprigs and 2 crushed garlic cloves in a frying pan over medium heat.
- 2 Arrange the 8 quail breast-side down and cook for 4–5 minutes.
- 3 Turn, add the remaining 30 g butter and continuously spoon butter over all the birds for 3–4 minutes.
Ready when
Continue when golden all over; crisp pancetta is ideal.
Caution
Quail are small and cook quickly. Overcooking dries the breast, so judge the browning and move on.
Finish with white wine and make the sauce
- 1 Pour in 100 ml white wine and boil over medium heat for about 1 minute to remove the alcoholic smell.
- 2 Add 200 ml chicken stock, cover and cook gently over low heat for 8–10 minutes.
- 3 Uncover and reduce the sauce over medium heat until thick.
- 4 Remove the string.
Ready when
After 8–10 minutes covered, the quail are cooked when pulling a leg releases the joint easily and the juices run clear.
The sauce is ready when thick enough to form threads as it is lifted with a spoon.
Caution
Maintain low heat during covered cooking: high heat toughens the quail.
Plate
- 1 Spread warm polenta on the plates.
- 2 Top each with 2 quail and pour over the sauce.
Ready when
Ready when polenta and quail are warm and the sauce covers everything.
About this dish
Polenta e osei is indispensable to any account of Bergamo. Osei means small birds in Lombard dialect, and the people of Bergamo once ate birds caught during the autumn hunting season with polenta. As restrictions on wild-bird hunting have tightened, quail have taken their place in restaurants.
Carefully browning pancetta-wrapped quail in butter and sage looks simple but demands attention to cooking. The breast dries out if overheated, so once browned, the birds are finished gently with white wine. This combination of browning and covered cooking is the essence of the Bergamo style.
Bring the full course home next weekend.
Bring every dish to the table at its best.
Choose the dishes you want to cook, and Chef Authen handles the shopping list and the day-of schedule. The Tabelia app turns everything from starter to main into one coordinated course in your kitchen.
- One shopping listBuilt automatically from your menu and any substitutions, ready to check off.
- One timelineEvery dish’s waiting and cooking time combined into a single schedule.
- Answers beyond the recipeFrom judging the heat to adapting on the fly, Chef Authen answers with concrete criteria, not guesses.