Duck Ragu
The Dish
Duck Ragu
Best for: Lunch, Dinner
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10
Cook time: 2 hours
This is a pasta dish which really is worth the wait. The most tender duck which is accompanied by a deep and rich sauce with so many levels of flavours.
Umami paste is something I’ve been playing around with and I’ve found adding it to tomato based sauces works so perfectly and gives the most incredible and powerful flavour.
The Recipe
Step 1
Brown the duck breasts in a large hot saucepan and set aside. This will only take a couple of minutes each side. Don’t clean the pan.
Add the pancetta to the same pan, cook until super brown and crispy. Remove the pancetta, chop it into even smaller pieces and set aside. Again - don’t clean the pan as this is where a lot of the flavour comes from.
Step 2
Dice the onion, carrot and celery super fine and add to the same pan where you cooked the meat. Cook for 5-8 minutes on a medium-high het until the onions are fully cooked. Add the crushed garlic cloves and thyme and cook for another minute.
Step 3
Add the balsamic vinegar and wine and allow to boil for a couple minutes.
Add the onion mixture to a blender with the tin of tomatoes and blend into a smoother paste (it doesn’t need to be fully smooth here).
Return the tomatoes to the pan and now add the umani paste, maple syrup, stock cube, bay leaves and a good pinch of salt.
Step 4
Return the duck and pancetta to the sauce, mix well. Place a lid on the saucepan, reduce the heat to a simmer and leave for 2 hours until the duck is super tender and falls off the bone.
Step 5
After 2 hours remove the duck legs from the sauce and use 2 forks to shred the meat, it should fall straight off the bone. Return the shredded meat to the sauce, add in 15g butter and the grated parmesan.
Step 6
Boil a large pot of salted water and cook the pasta, if using fresh it should take around 1-2 minutes. Reserve a little of the pasta water, just around 3-4 tbsp.
When the pasta is cooked, drain well and add it to the ragu with a little of the pasta water to help loosen it up a little, but also the helps emulsify the sauce.
Serve with extra parmesan and cracked black pepper.
The Ingredients
2 duck legs
75g diced pancetta
2 sticks celery
1 large carrot
1 large white onion
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 beef stock cube
200ml Red wine
2 tbsp umani paste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp maple syrup
15g butter
20g parmesan - grated.
600g Pappardelle
