Duck Ragu
I’ll give you the recipe using only duck legs, but feel free to use fewer and supplement with chicken thighs as I did. The chicken was a little bit tougher than the duck, ultimately, but not tough or stringy enough to cause problems.
4 duck legs, visible fat removed
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 carrot, diced
1 onion, diced
1 celery stick, diced
1 can tomato paste
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 medium sage leaves, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup red wine
chicken stock
grated parmesan
1 lb. sagnarelli or other sturdy pasta
Pour two cups boiling water over porcinis and soak in small bowl for 30 minutes. Remove rehydrated porcinis and chop, saving the soaking liquid for later.
Generously season duck legs with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in dutch oven over medium-high heat until nearly smoking, then add duck legs to pan, browning well. This should take about 10 minutes. Remove duck legs to a plate.
Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pot. Add carrot, onion, celery, and garlic to pot and cook until vegetables wilt and turn golden brown. Scrape up as much of the fond from the bottom of the pot as you can once the vegetables start to release their water. Make a hot spot, and add the tomato paste to it, stirring constantly, until it starts to caramelize. Once it does, blend it with the vegetables and cook for a couple minutes longer. Add porcini soaking liquid (careful not to get any of the sludge in the pot), porcinis, sage, bay leaf, red wine, and some chicken stock, if the mixture looks too thick. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add duck legs to the pot, cover, leaving lid slightly open, and cook for at least one hour.
Remove duck legs from pot, let cool for a few minutes, then shred meat and put it back into the pot, cooking until sauce is thick.
Boil sagnarelli is salted water until nearly al dente. Add to pot with duck ragu and add two ladles of pasta cooking water. Stir, simmering, until pasta reaches al dente stage. Serve with grated parmesan.
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