Fagiano Arrosto alla Saverio di Nulvi

• 2 fresh Italian sausages
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, peeled and finely minced
• 2 pheasants, their livers reserved (each about 2 pounds, preferably hung for several days in a cool, dry space, feathers removed, cleaned)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Freshly cracked pepper
• 2/3 cup moscato or other sweet, ambered wine
• Zest of 2 large oranges
• 4 large leaves of sage, torn
• 8 thin slices pancetta
• 2 cups good red wine
• 10 to 12 large branches of sage, rosemary, bay, or a combination of them

1. Pierce the casings of the sausages and poach them for 5 minutes in barely simmering water.
2. Drain and cool the sausages.
3. Remove their casings and mince.
4. In a saute pan over a medium flame, warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and brown the minced, poached sausages, rolling them about in the fat and crisping them.
5. Add the onion, softening it a bit in the fat, before adding the pheasant livers, breaking them up and amalgamating them with the sausage and the onion.
6. Sprinkle on the sea salt and generously grind pepper over all.
7. Add 1/3 cup of the moscato, letting it evaporate.
8. Add the zest and the sage, combine the components well.
9. Fill the cavities of the pheasants with the stuffing.
10. Bind their legs with butchers twine.
11. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
12. In a shallow terra-cotta or enameled cast-iron casserole over a lively flame, warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and, one at a time, seal the birds, browning them well on all sides, then removing them to a holding plate.
13. After the birds are sealed, lay 4 slices of pancetta over each of their breasts.
14. Rinse the still-hot casserole with the remaining 1/3 cup of moscato and 1 cup of the red wine, stirring, scraping at the residue, and permitting the liquid to reduce for several minutes.
15. Replace the birds in their casserole, cover them with the herb branches, and roast the pheasant for 1/2 hour or a bit longer, only until the flesh under a leg joint is rosy.
16. Roasting a pheasant to grayness seems a sad thing to do.
17. Remove the birds to a holding plate.
18. Place the casserole over a lively flame, add the remaining cup of wine, stirring, scraping at the residue, permitting it to reduce for 5 minutes.
19. Whack each bird in two at its breastbone.
20. Lay the halves over a warmed, shallow platter and pour the pan juices over all.
21. Having, perhaps, begun the feast with the crostata di patate di Biddamanna (page 228), one might present the luscious birds with a dish borrowed from Basilicatabrasato di funghi con aglianico del Vulture (page 150) or the spiced chestnuts from Nicola Taurino (page 148).
22. In any case, have at the ready warm bread for the juices and jugs of the same good red wine in which the birds were cooked.

italian sausages, extravirgin olive oil, yellow onion, pheasants, salt, freshly cracked pepper, moscato, oranges, sage, pancetta, good red wine, branches of sage

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/fagiano-arrosto-alla-saverio-di-nulvi-391250 (may not work)