When I organize Christmas lunch at my house, I always serve stuffed guinea fowl.
The “pharaoh’s hen,” originally from Numidian Africa, has a fine and succulent meat. Thanks to the Portuguese, it returned to Europe in the 1400s, more than a thousand years after its disappearance caused by the difficulty of breeding.
Mom knew how to cook it very well accompanied by succulent potatoes.
The recipe isn’t particularly difficult but it is absolutely necessary to use a good butcher who sells boneless guinea fowl, because it’s a laborious and quite complex procedure.

Roast guinea fowl with chestnut, sausage, and sage

  • Preparation time: 180 minutes
  • Ingredients for 6-8 servings
  • Difficulty: Average difficult recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 1 boneless guinea fowl
  • 1 small carrot
  • 1 onion
  • 1 stick of celery
  • Sage and rosemary to taste
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • 1 glass of white wine
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • For the stuffing:
  • 5 oz (150 grams) of boiled and skinned chestnuts
  • 11 oz (300 grams) of minced pork
  • 2 sausages
  • 4 oz (100 grams) of grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 egg
  1. Instructions
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 °F.
  3. Dab the guinea fowl well with kitchen paper.
  4. Make the stuffing: skin the sausages and mix the minced meat with the sausages, egg, parmesan, and chestnuts. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Take the guinea fowl and push the filling into the cavity. Tie it with a string and sew the ends.
  6. Wash the carrot, celery, and onion and chop them coarsely.
  7. In a saucepan with oil, brown the meat and then deglaze with the wine; add the diced vegetables, herbs, and warm water up to half the height of the meat.
  8. Bake in the oven for about two hours, until the water evaporates and the guinea fowl skin becomes crisp. Make sure to turn the guinea fowl upside down halfway through cooking.
  9. Remove the saucepan from the oven.
  10. Take out the guinea fowl and keep it covered.
  11. Blend the sauce and pass it through a sieve. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook for a couple of minutes.
  12. Remove the string from the guinea fowl. Cut it into fairly thick slices and serve with the sauce and roasted potatoes.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • Burn off all the possible hairs that have been left by the butcher. Obviously, all the surfaces that have been in contact with the raw chicken must be sanitized with bleach.
  • The timing of cooking in the oven depends on the oven.