Maccarruni With Dormouse Ragù And Tordi

Preparation:

Preparation: The use of dormouse meat, which the ancient inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum were fond of, is widespread in Calabria, as is that of the guinea pig, which is also raised for gastronomic purposes, such as, for example, to St. Hexarus agate. The dormouse resembles the squirrel in appearance, lives mainly in the woods, is a night owl and a very voracious omnivore. It lives easily in captivity and, if well fed, becomes very fat. Figure in the ancient French cuisine ('dormouse stuffed') and in Campania cuisine ('ghiri alla pizzaiola' of san martino valle caudina). Prepare the 'maccarruni a ru fierru' with the flour according to the specific recipe and let them dry a little. Peel the dormouse by removing the excess fat adhering to the skin, gut it and leave it in running water for a day and a night. Cut it into pieces, put it for an hour in a mixture of water and vinegar (half and half) and rinse it well. Gently clean the thrushes (many gourmets prefer to simply pluck them, without emptying their innards). In a large earthenware pan, fry the chopped onion and garlic cloves with the suet and oil, add the pieces of dormouse and the thrushes, brown them and add the wine. As soon as the wine has evaporated, remove the thrushes and set them aside, add the seedless tomatoes and the preserve dissolved in a little warm water, the salt, the parsley, the basil and the finely chopped chilli pepper. Cook with a covered container and moderate heat. Halfway through cooking, put the thrushes back into the sauce and continue to cook for the necessary time. With the sauce, season the freshly cooked 'maccarruni' (in plenty of salted water) and drain. Sprinkle with cheese. You can then serve the meat on the same plate.