Passalacqua Winery

Quail in Red Wine and Mushroom Sauce

Recipe by Ryan Sparks, Quail Forever Journal Editor
This recipe pairs beautifully with Quail Forever Red Wine.

This recipe, inspired by the classic Italian dish, Chicken Marsala, swaps the chicken for bobwhite quail and the Marsala for a wine better suited to quail – Passalacqua Winery’s Quail Forever Pinot Noir. It begins with the bones and ends with a sauce you’ll want to spoon over everything.

For a bird as small as a quail, every bite feels precious. There isn’t as much meat on them compared to a pheasant or grouse, which means it is important to use every part of the bird. Learning to make a simple stock from the legs and carcasses not only honors the birds, it transforms your cooking.

A pot of game bird stock deepens sauces, enriches soups, and turns a single hunt into several memorable meals. The method works with all game birds. Once you’ve made your own stock, you’ll do it for the rest of your life and won’t buy grocery store stock again. For this recipe, the stock and deboned meat can be prepared the day before.

Serves: 4
Prep time: ~15 min
Cook time: ~4 hours (20–25 min active cooking)

Ingredients

For the stock:
8 whole quail
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
10 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
Thyme, fresh or dried
Small handful of parsley, chopped
For the Quail Pinot:
Kosher salt & black pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
Enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of a pan, plus more as needed
1 shallot (or small onion), minced
16 oz mushrooms (such as cremini), cleaned and sliced
½ cup dry red wine (such as Passalacqua’s Quail Forever Pinot Noir)
1 cup quail stock (recipe follows)
1 tablespoon butter
Additional thyme and/or chopped parsley
A splash of heavy cream to finish (room temperature)

Instructions

For the Stock:

Pat the quail dry and then remove the breasts, placing them in a small bowl. Separate the legs/thighs and place in a separate bowl. Reserve the quail carcasses, rinsing the cavity to make sure they are clean.
In a slow cooker set to high heat, place the legs/thighs, quail carcasses, carrot, onion, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme, and parsley. Add enough cold water to cover by a half inch. Let them cook until the legs/thighs are tender, ~3.5 hours.
When the legs/thighs are tender, remove them from the slow cooker and allow them to cool slightly. Remove the meat from the bones with your hands and reserve it in a small container or bowl. You can also get some meat off the carcasses.
Strain the liquid from the slow cooker through a fine sieve or chinois. You now have quail stock. Reserve one cup for this recipe and freeze the rest. To make an even richer stock, you can reduce the strained stock over high heat for 20-25 minutes. Taste as you go.

For the Quail Pinot

Lightly salt the quail breasts. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the quail breasts and brown on both sides until nicely golden. Remove the quail and tent with foil or place in a warmed oven to keep warm.
In the same pan, add more olive oil if needed then add the mushrooms and the shallot. Sauté until the mushrooms begin to brown and the shallot is softened (3-4 minutes). Season lightly with salt & pepper.
Pour in the red wine, scraping up any brown bits from the pan. Let it reduce by about half. Then add the stock and deboned meat and bring to a simmer. Let the sauce reduce until slightly thickened (about 5-8 minutes).
Remove from heat momentarily and swirl in the butter and the splash of cream. Add fresh thyme if using. Taste for salt.
Place the quail breast back in the pan and let them sit in the sauce until warmed through, 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.
Serve the quail and mushroom sauce over polenta, egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or a wide pasta like tagliatelle. As you can imagine, it pairs well with the wine used to make the dish.