Braised Quail

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 150 g celery root
• 2 carrots
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 3 fresh quails (e.g., from Bresse)
• Salt
• Pepper (freshly ground)
• 4 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 2 tbsp Tomato paste
• 400 ml dry red wine
• 4 fresh bay leaves

Instructions

1. 1.

   Peel and roughly dice the onion, celery root, and carrots. Wash the thyme sprigs. Rinse the quails, pat them dry with kitchen paper, and season both inside and outside with salt and pepper.

2. 2.

   Preheat the oven to 200 °C fan‑forced.

3. 3.

   Heat the rapeseed oil in a small roasting pan and sear the quails on all sides. Remove them from the pan and sauté the onion, celery root, and carrots in the same pan while stirring. Stir in the tomato paste, cook briefly, then deglaze with red wine. Return the thyme, bay leaves, and quails to the pan, cover, and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes. In the last 15 minutes lift the lid and spoon the pan juices over the quails.

4. 4.

   Serve the braised quail warm and strain the pan liquid through a sieve into a saucepan. Reduce half of it and pour over the quails.