I thought Chris liked squab. I thought I liked squab. I definitely thought, at the very least, we’d eaten squab before, so when Deborah was looking to escape cooking and eating it realized she’d be too busy to cook and eat it, I volunteered.
I may be wrong though. We may never have eaten squab before. That might have been some other small, plump, bird.
I say that because Chris didn’t like the squab, and I thought it okay. The squab, not the recipe, mind you. And honestly, I’m not sure, having no real basis comparison, that we had “good” squab. Though we did buy the squab from D’Artagnan Gourmet Foods and I do trust their products. I found the squab gamier than I expected (this did not “taste like chicken”). Chris described the flavor as almost liver-like and I think I may have to agree with him there. Of course, that liver flavor could have been imparted by the liver stuffed into the cavity of the squab (along with sage and pancetta). Now I’m a fan of the familial chopped liver, so again, a liver-flavored bird didn’t bother me, but it bothered him.
All that said, the recipe was easy peasy and if you like squab, I would definitely give it a go.
So let’s talk about the recipe for a moment.
The hardest part, and it wasn’t too hard, was finding the squab. As I said, I ordered it from D’Artangan, and gave them the date I needed it to arrive, and it arrived right on time, fresh and packed with 1/2 dozen reusable ice packs. It also came with livers, so I didn’t need to purchase any extra chicken livers as Marcella suggests (phew). I only ordered two though because I didn’t think four would fit in my pan (Marcella tells you to fit them in a pan without overlapping), though they were much smaller than expected, so I definitely think three would have fit fine.

Squab versus tape measure (with a lime too to grasp the size)
We had plenty of fresh sage from the garden, and pancetta in the freezer, so other than the squab, I had everything I needed right on hand.
From start to finish, the process took maybe 90 minutes, 30 minutes of prep and browning (if that), and 60 minutes for stove top roasting. I liked the process, and may try it again but next time with a different small, plump bird.

Browned Bird
Oh, and Marcella, yes, yet again we had acorn squash with the squab. I know, not traditional but I got a bunch of squash from my CSA, and need to use it up. This time though, I tossed in some of the left over pancetta, in a small dice, and it was fabulous!

Finished product (with squash)