Pasta with duck ragù (Ragù d'anatra alla Veneta)

Sometimes you can get bored with the variations of "spaghetti with meat sauce" and when I was on an Italian restaurant here in Prague was served pappardelle with duck ragout, I felt as if the angels were coming in small flocks and fluttering their wings right in front of me. It was so delicious that I had to find out how to make it myself. Fortunately, after several attempts, it turned out to be quite simple - and the recipe here has roots in some versions that originated in Venice. So I may choose to call it "Ragù d'anatra alla Veneta". It sounds exotic and exclusive.

When I first tasted this dish in an Italian restaurant in Prague, I was so excited that I just had to figure out how to make it myself. And here is the recipe!

Ingredients (for 4-6 servings):

4 duck legs (approx. 1kg)

salt and freshly ground pepper

2 stalks of celery

2 cloves of garlic

1 medium-sized onion

1-2 carrots (approx. 200 grams)

2½ dl. red wine

1 can of peeled, chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp. chopped fresh sage or 1 tsp. dried sage

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp wine vinegar, e.g. aceto balsamico

3 dl. chicken stock, possibly from a good concentrate

Fresh pasta: tagliatelle or pappardelle

Freshly grated parmesan

Method

Rinse the celery stalks, split them lengthways a few times and chop them finely. Peel the carrot and chop it finely - preferably in very small cubes (brunoise) if you have the time and patience. Peel the onion and chop it very finely - do the same with the garlic cloves.

Rub the duck legs with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place the duck legs in a cold pot over medium heat - as it heats up, some of the duck fat will melt off and serve as the fat you brown the food in. Allow the thighs to brown on both sides, 6-8 minutes in total. Remove the duck legs from the pan and set them aside, removing most of the fat from the pan, leaving just a tbsp. remaining. You can easily use the duck fat in cooking, it adds great flavour and is especially good in red cabbage or in a stew.

Add the finely chopped vegetables to the pan and sauté for a few minutes - until the onion pieces are translucent but not too much colour. Add the peeled, chopped tomatoes, the red wine and half of your chicken stock. Let it cook for a few minutes before adding the sage, bay leaf and wine vinegar. Put the duck legs back in the pot, cover and simmer over low heat for a couple of hours.

Remove the duck legs from the pan and let them cool slightly - just 5-10 minutes. Add the rest of your chicken stock to the pan if you think there's a little too little sauce, bring to the boil and season with salt and pepper - and maybe a little wine vinegar if the sauce lacks acidity. With your fingers, first peel the skin off the thighs, you don't need it. Then peel off the meat, preferably in ‘strands’ - once it's all peeled off, pour it back into the pan, heat it through and just to be on the safe side, taste again to check that the salt, pepper and acidity are perfect.

Serve with "wide pasta", preferably fresh tagliatelle or pappardelle - which should be cooked al dente. Sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan.

When I serve pasta with a ragù like this, I cook it for 1½-2 minutes less than I expect it to take, drain it in a colander and then heat it through in an appropriate amount of ragù until it's perfectly cooked. This way I get the sauce itself to soak into the pasta and the flavour becomes stronger and more delicious. If I expect to have leftover ragù, I don't cook the pasta for it before serving the ragù itself and I use this method. It makes for a completely fresh and delicious leftover dish.