Roast Partridge

Fire up the wood burning oven (if used) to 450°F/220°C or so. Prepare the polenta  Recipe   but pour the prepared polenta into an oblong container  Picture   and allow to cool. Meanwhile prepare the Roast Squash  Recipe   up until the point of cooking. When ready cut the polenta into fingers a couple of inches long, put a smear of oil in an ovenproof pan, add the polenta fingers and sprinkle a little parmesan over each of them.

Peel off the outer leaves of the cabbage, cut into quarters, remove the inner stalk and cut the cabbage into shreds. Peel the garlic, cut into fine dice, and briefly soften in three tablespoonfuls of olive oil in a thick bottomed saucepan. Add the cabbage and cook covered over a low heat for five minutes or so. Meanwhile take the rind off the pancetta, cut into lardons and fry until golden in a very little oil. Stir the pancetta into the cabbage, season with some salt, and leave off the heat covered to one side.

Smear a little olive oil over the partridges, season with salt and pepper, and put a stalk of rosemary (folded) inside each bird. Put the partridges into a baking dish and pour over two good sized glasses of red wine  Picture  . Cover the dish with some foil.

Now ready to go, put the polenta, squash and partridges into the oven in that order. As soon as the squash browns a little, turn them on to the other side. When the polenta browns, turn and sprinkle over some more parmesan. After ten minutes take the foil off the partridges.

As soon as the squash  Picture   and polenta  Picture   are ready take them out and keep warm. Put the cabbage back over a low heat and stir from time to time. After a further ten minutes, turn the partridges over and cook for a further ten minutes (30 minutes in total at this point).

Turn the partridges back over and test with a carving fork that they are cooked to your taste (in my case this means pink but not bloody). Put back in the oven for a few more minutes if necessary until ready. Take the partridges out of the pan, but return it to the oven to let the red wine reduce if necessary.

Finish off the cabbage when ready by stirring in a couple of tablespoonfuls of cream and put on to serving plates  Picture  . Carve the partridges into two breast and leg pieces discarding the carcasses, put a couple of polenta and squash pieces on to the serving plates, add the partridge on top, spoon over some of the red wine jus and serve  Zoom  . And enjoy.