The cockerel (perfect even at Christmas) by Alessandro Borghese

It is one of the winter recipes created by Alessandro Borghese for Leffe, the Belgian beer born in the abbeys. Ideal for the colder months and also perfect at Christmas, elegant and creative, to be served with beer. After all, the chef created his dishes based on this idea: a cuisine that matches the flavors of different beers, and if for the red Leffe he thought of a braised beef and for the Leffe ambrée with risotto creamed with castelmagno, for this cockerel the perfect beer to pair with is Leffe Blonde. But let’s get to the recipe, which creates new encounters of flavors:

Cockerel legs stuffed with dried porcini mushrooms and mortadella, dark potato, spinai cream and its raisin base

Pairing:

Leffe Blonde

Ingredients for 4 people

2 portions Galletto
50 g dried porcini
100 g Mortadella
Pork retina to taste
50 g Sedano
50 g Carrots
50 g Onion
50 ml Brandy
4 pcs Long pepper
4 pcs Potatoes
1 clove Garlic
150 g donkey
400 g Spinach
Nutmeg to taste
30 ml Passito
Sale q.b.

Preparation

• Heat the cockerel to eliminate any residual feathers. Separate the thighs from the rest of the body at the hip and remove the thigh bone while keeping the spindle bone.
• It strengthens the breasts and preserves all the bones.
• Soak the mushrooms in hot water for about 10 minutes and boil them for 5 minutes.
• Squeeze them and blend them with mortadella, coat the inner part of the thigh with the mixture obtained, close and seal, using the pig’s net. Cook them in an aluminum mold in a steam oven for about 15 minutes.
• Use the bones and ribcage of the cockerel to make a cooking sauce.
• Brown celery, carrots and onions in a saucepan, add the bones and sauté over high heat. Wet and blend with the brandy.
• Add the crushed long pepper, cover with water and let it boil until two-thirds of the level is reduced.
• Filter and add the passito and boil until a thick and fluid base is obtained.
• Peel the potatoes and boil them in salted water for 3-4 minutes and drain.
• Brown the potatoes in the butter in a pan and finish cooking in the oven.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute
• Season with salt and season with nutmeg.
• Cool in the fridge and then blend, adding a little water at a time until you get a smooth and fluid sauce.
• Plate up, finish with the bottom made with bones and ribcage made previously
• Served

All the other recipes of the «Double the taste» campaign with Alessandro Borghese on the website of Leffe