We are used to this dish made with chicken giblets, but, as you know we also have quail! I make stock with the quail  bones, and this risotto, every time when I have to cull. Risotto involves standing and stirring the pot all the time – no  answering the phone, getting the door or visiting the bathroom! 😉 The consistency of the dish must be just right, not too wet, not too dry and al dente. It takes some work but is worth the trouble. My smallest grandchild is particularly fond of this dish, to the  point where his grandmother once told me to stop shoveling it in after the 3 rd bowl – she was afraid he may pop.

Quail Risotto 

2 liters of good chicken or quail stock stock. I make my own, it is simple and easy and makes all the difference to the taste

2 cups of Arborio or Carnaroli rice. Yes, it has to be Arborio or Carnaroli, the normal rice does not have enough starch

10 quail giblets  (or 400 g Chicken giblets). One can save quail giblets by freezing them until enough has been collected

1 medium sized onion finely chopped

1 Large clove Garlic (more if you like) finely chopped

1 tablespoon rosemary or sage finely chopped

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive Oil

3 tablepoon butter

pinch of dried chili flakes

1 cup of good white wine

salt andpPepper

Half a cup of grated parmigiano cheese ( stir it in at the end, or serve with cheese on top)

one bottle Sangiovese wine (to go in to the cook and the cook’s friends 😉 )

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Heat the stock and keep it hot. Ad one table spoon of olive oil and one table spoon of butter, a quarter of the onions and a quarter of the garlic to a pan and saute until soft. Ad the giblets and brown slightly. Pour half a cup of white wine in and evaporate.  Turn the temperature down, ad the Chili, Sage or Rosemary, and braise in a drop of stock for about 30 minutes until tender. Use a pot big enough to hold everything with ample room for lots of stirring. Put the rest of the olive oil and one table spoon of butter in the pot and add the rest of the onion and garlic and saute over a gentle heat until the onion is soft but not coloured.  Add the rice to the onion mixture in the pot and stir a few minutes to heat through. Toast the rice and cover every grain in oil. Add a half a cup of good white wine and cook until the rice have absorbed all the wine. Turn the heat medium low and start adding a few ladles of stock, and stir constantly. Every time the rice becomes dry, ad a ladle of hot stock and keep stirring. When half cooked (ten minutes) add the warm giblets to the rice. Keep adding hot stock a ladle at a time and keep stirring until the rice is almost al dente.   The consistency should be very moist as the rice will still absorb moisture and dry out for some time. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper while cooking. Immediately take off the heat and stir in one tablespoon of cold butter and half a cup of grated Parmigiano (optional). Stir quite aggressively to make it creamy and smooth. Let it rest for about three minutes while the rice finisesh cooking in the residual heat and serve immediately. Top with grated Parmiginao cheese if not stirred in at the end. The rice must never be dry but must also never float in the stock. If you add the stock all at once you will end up with boiled rice, not risotto.  Each grain of rice should have its own glistening coating of stock, and should be chewy, not soft and soggy. In Veneto they serve risotto “all’onda” which means like the waves of the sea – very soft and they give  you only a fork to eat it – no spoon. This is also the way I like it, even though I am from Lombardy.

We often eat risotto as a main meal but it makes a great primi piatti if the main meal is  meat. I would serve a great Sangiovese red with this if there is any left after tasting the good wine while cooking.