(Capon filled with chestnuts - Our recipe)

Time: preparation: 1 hour ........ cooking: 2 hours 1 capon; 400 g (14 oz) chestnuts; 300 g (10 1/2 oz) turkey sausage; 2 sherry glasses of "Mirto", a liqueur from     Sardinia - Italy; 8 tablespoons olive oil; Salt easy recipe

  Spoon measures are American spoons, that is standard cook's measuring spoons used in USA.
  The best plan is to regard 2 American teaspoons or tablespoons as 1 English teaspoon or tablespoon (eating spoons)

Make slits in the chestnut shells and put them in cold water.
Bring to the boil for fifteen minutes. Shell the nuts and remove the skins as well.
Then mix chestnuts and fresh sausages, both roughly chopped. Add a sherry glass of "Mirto" and stir carefully.
Season with salt. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
Prepare the capon. Remove fat (the capon is often very fat) around the neck or inside the opening of the cavity. Remove any stay feathers or pin feathers. Rinse the outside and the inside of the cavity under cold running water, removing any bits of blood still remaining.
Then dry well with kitchen paper. Season with salt the inside. Put in the cavity the filling.
Season with salt the outside and put it in a shallow ovenproof baking dish.
Bake the capon for about 2 hours. At the end sprinkle it with the second sherry glass of liqueur, stirring it carefully.
Serve hot.

What's the right wine?
Our suggestion is: Verdicchio dei Castelli di Iesi (a white Italian wine).

If you want to combine this dish with other ones for a complete menu,
consult our "Members-only Area".