Galeto al Primo Canto

Ingredients

• 2 poussins or very young chickens, about 700 g each
• 300 ml dry white wine
• 100 ml olive oil
• 8 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp coarse salt
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 10 fresh sage leaves, chopped
• 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves chopped
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 500 g ready-made polenta, cut into fingers
• Oil for frying
• 1 head radicchio, torn
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Before you cook

• Cut down either side of each bird's backbone with heavy scissors and press the birds flat.
• Whisk the wine, olive oil, garlic, salt, oregano, sage, rosemary, pepper and lemon juice into a marinade.
• Pour two thirds of the marinade over the birds and turn them to coat.
• Leave the birds to marinate for at least one hour, keeping the remaining marinade in a jug for basting.

Steps

1. Light a charcoal fire and let it burn down to a bed of grey, even embers.
2. Lift the birds from the marinade and let the excess run off.
3. Set them skin side up on the grill, about 25 cm above the coals.
4. Cook for 20 minutes, brushing them with the reserved marinade every five minutes.
5. Turn the birds skin side down and cook them for 15 minutes more, still basting.
6. Pierce the thickest part of a thigh and check that the juices run clear.
7. Move the birds to a board and rest them for eight minutes.
8. Heat 2 cm of oil in a frying pan until a polenta finger sizzles the moment it touches the surface.
9. Fry the polenta in batches for four minutes a side, until a hard golden crust forms, then drain it on paper.
10. Dress the torn radicchio with the vinegar, a little olive oil and salt.
11. Cut each bird in half and serve with the fried polenta and the salad.