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1
Bring the salted water to a rolling boil in a heavy saucepan. Pour in the white maize flour in a thin, steady stream, whisking continuously to prevent lumps from forming. Reduce to a low simmer and stir with a wooden spoon for 40–45 minutes, until the polenta pulls cleanly away from the sides of the pan.
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2
Remove the polenta from the heat. Beat in the cold butter cubes and the grated Grana Padano or Asiago. The finished polenta concia should be rich, fluid, and yielding — not stiff. Taste and adjust salt. Keep covered and warm.
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3
Pat each quail dry. Wrap a vine leaf around the breast of each bird, securing it with kitchen twine or a small skewer. The leaf protects the breast meat and perfumes the butter during roasting — this is the Bergamo tradition.
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4
This is where the dish lives or dies. Melt the 80 g of butter in a heavy ovenproof pan over a medium-high flame with the sage leaves. When the butter foams and turns a pale nut-brown and the sage crackles audibly, lay the quail in breast-side down. Roast in a preheated oven or continue on the hob, basting constantly, for 12–15 minutes total, turning once. Quail is done when the juices at the thigh joint run clear and the skin is deep golden. Beyond 15 minutes, dryness is the principal risk — do not exceed this.
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5
Remove the quail from the pan and rest for 2 minutes. Remove the vine leaves and twine. Spoon the soft polenta concia into warmed bowls or a serving dish, forming a mound for each portion. Place one quail on top of each mound. Pour the buttery pan juices — browned butter, rendered bird fat, and sage — directly over the birds and polenta. These juices are the sauce; nothing further is added.