A beautiful, celebratory recipe—a cosy dinner for two or four.
Saba or vincotto is made during the grape harvest season when mosto or grape must is plentiful. The mosto is slowly cooked, often with aromatics, until it is thick and syrupy. Saba is delicious drizzled over tarts or gelato but I also love it in savoury dishes like this one, where the sweetness contrasts with the salty cured pancetta. You can substitute any type of fowl such as duck, quail or pigeon for the hens.
| 2 sm | Cornish game hens, spatchcocked (500-700 g each) |
| 100 g | thinly sliced pancetta |
| 2 sprigs | rosemary, stems cut into small pieces with leaves left intact |
| 1T | olive oil |
| 3T | saba |
| 1t | red wine vinegar |
| kosher salt | |
| black pepper |
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Cut each of the game hens in half. Season both sides with kosher salt.
Heat the olive oil in a medium, heavy- bottomed ovenproof pan over high heat. Carefully place the hens skin side down and fry until the skins are dark golden brown in colour, using tongs to check the colour periodically to avoid burning. Gently flip the hens and place in the oven for approximately 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. Remove the hens from the pan while you make the sauce. Discard the frying oil from the pan. Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the butter, pancetta and rosemary, allow to fry until the pancetta is golden. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately add the saba and vinegar. Return the hens to the pan, baste them with the pan sauce. Serve with a little freshly- cracked black pepper.
Serves 2-4 depending on size of the fowl.