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1
Heat the oven to 220 °C. Dry the birds thoroughly with kitchen paper — any surface moisture will inhibit skin rendering. Wrap each bird in a slice of pancetta or lardo, securing it across the breast. Arrange the birds breast-side up in a roasting tin with space between them so hot air circulates freely. The skin should feel dry and taut to the touch.
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2
Roast at 220 °C for 15–20 minutes. The dish lives or dies here: the skin must emerge genuinely crisp and deeply golden, with rendered fat pooling in the pan, while the flesh at the bone retains a slight pinkness — overcooked birds produce dry, chewy flesh that no polenta can redeem. Press the breast; it should yield with only gentle resistance.
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3
While the birds roast, bring the salted water to a rolling boil in a heavy pot. Pour in the polenta in a thin, steady stream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat and continue stirring for the time the polenta requires to cook through — it must remain fluid enough to pour slowly from the pot in a thick ribbon. A spoon drawn across the surface should leave a channel that closes lazily within a few seconds. This is the soft, yielding consistency the dish demands.
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4
Pour the soft polenta onto a warmed serving board or into a wide, shallow bowl, spreading it to a mound deep enough to receive the birds. Immediately lay the roasted birds on top while both birds and polenta are still hot. Tip every drop of rendered fat and roasting juices from the tin over the birds and polenta. The polenta will audibly hiss faintly as the hot fat meets it, and within moments the grain will begin to absorb the juices — the surface will turn glossy where the fat has been taken in.
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5
Allow the birds to rest on the polenta for several minutes before serving. The polenta beneath each bird should be visibly darker and saturated where the juices have been absorbed. Serve directly from the board.