This is a family favorite: juicy bacon wrapped quail with a rich and powerful risotto… with salty miso paste! Yes, and it also works… Try it, you will absolutely adore it!
Do you like cooking with miso paste?
This gorgeous full meal is one of my latest quail recipes that immediately turned into a full blown family favorite. My very delicious bacon wrapped quail legs in a super rich and powerful risotto…
With Japanese miso paste!
Japanese Miso Paste
I used bacon wrapped quail legs here for this recipe.
However you can also replace them by 2 whole quails of course.
You choose if you want to prepare them in one piece or carve them up into separate legs, wings and breasts. Because quail legs are very easy to find here in Spain, I have quite a few quail leg recipes on my food and recipe blog here!
Find more about my quail recipes below the recipe!
Bacon Wrapped Quail with Miso Risotto
I sometimes add an extra touch to this gorgeous risotto dish and then drizzle it with a runny miso sauce. A must if you are fond of that strong salty Japanese miso flavor.
It only takes about 5 minutes to prepare really.
In a small saucepan combine 3 tablespoons of water, 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, a teaspoon of red miso paste and half a teaspoon of sauce thickener or flour and whisk well until the sauce thickens.
Drizzle this sauce on top of the cooked risotto and top with the bacon quail legs.
Miso Sauce
Epic!
I prepared the miso risotto for my bacon wrapped quail in my fabulous KitchenAid Cook Processor but a large saucepan will also do, same method!
For the KitchenAid Cook Processor recipe: scroll down to the second recipe below!
Enjoy!
Best Bacon Wrapped Quail with Miso Risotto Recipe
A family favorite: juicy bacon wrapped quail with a rich and powerful risotto… with salty miso paste!
- 8 quail legs
- 4 slices salted bacon
- 5,5 oz risotto rice (155 g)
- 1 cup vegetable stock (240 ml), warm
- 1 tbsp miso paste
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- ½ small onion chopped
- 1 large garlic clove chopped
- 1- inch fresh ginger (2,5 cm)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- pepper
- salt
- Slice the bacon lengthwise into long triangles. Place a quail leg on top.
- Wrap the quail legs in the bacon and place them on a baking tray. Then sprinkle the parcels with a little pinch of pepper and salt.
- Put the baking tray with the quails aside for now (keep them at room temperature). Then add the chopped onion and garlic, bay leaves and ginger to a large saucepan. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with a pinch of pepper.
- Place the pan over medium-high heat until the oil is hot. Stir fry the onion and garlic for 3 to 4 minutes. Then add the rice.
- Stir and cook the rice for 4 more minutes. Then add a splash of the warm vegetable stock and the red miso.
- Stir and bring the rice to a good boil. Then turn the heat lower and gradually add the remaining vegetable stock.
- While the risotto is cooking, put the quail legs in the oven. Bake them in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 12 to 15 minutes until golden. Then turn them over halfway through cooking time. Keep an eye on the risotto. Once the rice is al dente, add the butter and parsley.
- Stir the risotto well. Check the seasoning of the risotto and add extra pepper or salt to taste. Then take the risotto off the heat. Once the quail legs are cooked, plate the risotto up and top with the quail. Serve immediately.
Bacon Wrapped Quail with Miso Risotto
I love to make a good risotto for dinner from time to time and since I bought my KitchenAid Cook Processor I love it even more! Making risotto in the KitchenAid Cook Processor is very easy.
So here is my bacon wrapped quail recipe with miso risotto then: an intriguing miso risotto!
The risotto should be quite moist.
You can add extra butter or vegetable stock in the end if necessary. I love to drizzle the risotto with a simple miso sauce you can make in just 5 minutes in a small saucepan right before serving.
KitchenAid Cook Processor
Combine a teaspoon of red miso paste, 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of water and half a teaspoon of sauce thickener or flour. Place this over medium heat and whisk well until the sauce thickens. Right before plating your the quails up, drizzle this powerful miso sauce on top of the risotto.
Garnish with the quail, done!
Enjoy!
Best Bacon Wrapped Quail with Miso Risotto Recipe
A family favorite: juicy bacon wrapped quail with a rich and powerful risotto… with salty miso paste!
- 8 quail legs
- 4 slices salted bacon
- ½ small onion peeled
- 1 large garlic clove peeled
- 1 cup vegetable stock (240 ml)
- 5,5 oz risotto rice (155 g)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp miso paste
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1- inch fresh ginger (2,5 cm)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- pepper
- salt
- Insert the MultiBlade into the bowl of the Cook Processor. Then add the onion and garlic.
- Close the lid and press Pulse for 10 seconds. Open the lid and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then replace the MultiBlade with the StirAssist. Add the olive oil, bay leaves and ginger to the bowl.
- Close the lid and remove the measuring cup. Select STEW P9 and press Start to activate Step 1. After Step 1 add the rice.
- Close the bowl and press Start to activate step 2. After Step 2: add the miso paste and a splash of the vegetable stock. Season with pepper and salt also.
- Close again and press Start to activate Step 3. Then after Step 3: add the remaining vegetable stock.
- Close the bowl and press Start to activate Step 4. Then prepare the quails: slice the bacon lengthwise into long triangles and place a quail leg on top.
- Wrap the quail, place them on a baking tray and then season them with pepper and salt.
- Bake the quail legs in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 12 to 15 minutes until golden. Flip them over halfway through cooking time. Back to the Cook Processor: after Step 4 press cancel to exit the keep warm mode. Add the butter and parsley.
- Close the lid. Set the speed to 1 and leat the machine run for a minute. Check the seasoning of the risotto and add extra pepper or salt to taste. Serve.
Cooking with Quails
I hope that you enjoyed my bacon wrapped quail recipe!
Can you easily find quail where you live?
Have you ever cooked with quail before?
What is your favorite quail recipe? When I used to live in Belgium I could find quails in my local supermarket day in day out. These quails were sold in one piece but I never really cooked with them because I always found them way too expensive.
Steak vs. Quail
Four to five bucks for one little tiny naked bird…
And because I could easily find a good steak for the same price at that time, well then I didn’t think any further.
The only time that I cooked quails was to make my quail escabeche: quails and vegetables drenched in hot olive oil and vinegar, left to marinate in a sterile jar for a week. I even think that that is a Rick Stein recipe if I am right.
Rick Stein
It is a delicious lunch item, do try it out!
But apart from that only recipe I never really had a quail on my mind for dinner while living and cooking in Belgium.
That all changed as soon as I moved to the beautiful Spanish island of Tenerife, in the Atlantic ocean. Yep. Whole quails are also for sale here: one buck a piece!
Blimey. It is my lucky day! And it would get even better a couple of weeks later: I stumbled upon a batch of tiny quail legs in another supermarket.
Excellent… just excellent!
Let the brainstorm train begin.
Quail Recipes
Coming up with several recipe ideas didn’t take long, on the contrary.
So let’s sum up my other savory quail leg recipes besides my miso risotto and bacon wrapped quail above.
First off: a classic French dish, golden pan fried quail legs served with baked white grapes and a fresh touch of cilantro. My god, what a sweet creation that was! OK the cilantro is my own personal touch, but quails and grapes are a classic dish in France.
Whiskey
Another delicious quail leg recipe that I prepared one day: golden pan fried quail legs served with white beans, salted butter and… a good splash of whiskey. And I am telling you: that is the bomb!
Needless to say of course.
Even better: this recipe is one of my most popular and most visited recipes on my entire recipe blog! So it sure must be a good one, and I know for a fact that it is…
How To Cook Quail
If you are preparing quail, please don’t overcook the poor bird.
It is so damn skinny, that elegant flesh on those thin bones doesn’t need much cooking at all. If you pan fry them: these quail legs only need about 5 minutes on both sides, 12 minutes in a hot oven.
If you are cooking the entire bird: pan fry the quail quickly in butter and olive oil to get a delicious light brown sear on the meat and then put it in a hot oven for 15 minutes.
Overcooked
Trust me, quail doesn’t need more cooking than this because overcooked and dry fowl tastes as good as a mouthful of chalk. So be sweet to them, be gentle with that delicate meat. Quail meat is a delicacy, if it is cooked right.
What are some good substitutes for quail meat?
Can’t you find quail?
Well then I would go for some Cornish hens or partridges. They might need more cooking though because they are both larger than fresh quails.
My strong miso risotto, not with bacon wrapped quail but with Cornish hen or partridge… sounds fantastic too!
Bon appétit and enjoy, folks!
