Bricco’s sage pappardelle, duck ragout, pancetta and parmesan.
I have always loved duck. In the early 1970s, I was fortunate to eat at the famous Four Seasons restaurant in New York. It was springtime, and the duck was served with an amazing brown sugar glaze. I have never forgotten it.
In my early cooking years, I prepared duck in the classic French tradition: à l’orange—a whole duck roasted to a golden brown with a sweet orange and wine sauce. And I did learn the hard way one evening, as I was entertaining guests, that a small whole duck does NOT serve four people!
Finding duck to cook is not difficult these days. Both poultry vendors at the West Shore Farmers Market carry fresh duck, and it can usually be found at supermarkets too, sometimes frozen.
I did a little “duck research.” Ninety-five percent of all duck consumed in the United States is Pekin duck, a mild-tasting duck also known as Long Island duckling. It is likely the variety you will find in supermarkets and is relatively inexpensive. The breasts are usually sautéed, and the legs braised to tenderize them. It is likely the duck I ate at the Four Seasons.
Muscovy duck is a large duck that is roasted or stewed to veal-like tenderness. Its meat is strongly flavored.
Moulard duck is a cross between the above two varieties. It is commercially grown on farms for its meat and for foie gras, a specially fattened duck liver considered a delicacy in France.
The majority of meat from a duck comes from the breasts and legs and is darker than that of chicken or turkey. You will notice a layer of fat under the duck skin, which melts away after roasting. But duck fat is used in cooking, too, such as French duck confit (duck cooked in its own fat) and even French fries at downtown Harrisburg’s Federal Taphouse.
We know that the French love duck, but did you know that it is a part of Italian cuisine, as well? One of my favorite Harrisburg restaurant dishes is Bricco’s “Sage Pappardelle, Duck Ragout, Pancetta and Parmesan.” This dish has been on Bricco’s menu a long time, and it is luscious. So, I went looking in my cookbook library for a recipe for duck sauce that can be made at home and served over pasta.
What I found was a tomato-based sauce that only needs to simmer for an hour. It is a hearty sauce spiked with red wine and a little pancetta. The recipe originates from Florence, Italy, and there it is served over tortellini (homemade, of course). But it is equally good over fettucine, soft corn polenta or the wide noodles (pappardelle) used by Bricco. It calls for a whole duck cut into parts, but it is much easier to use duck breasts. I usually substitute bacon for pancetta in most recipes because I like it better.
Pasta al Sugo di Anatra
(Pasta with Duck Sauce)
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 ounces pancetta (Italian bacon) or thick regular bacon (smoked or unsmoked), cubed
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
- ¼ cup Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
- 1 small duck cut into parts or (much easier) 4 small duck breasts (defrosted, if frozen)
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 4 cups chopped tomatoes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Recipe
- In a deep heavy pot or pan, warm the olive oil.
- Add the pancetta or bacon and onion until both are soft and golden in color.
- Add the carrot, celery and parsley and sauté 4 minutes more until softened.
- Add the duck pieces or breasts and brown well on all sides, about 10 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper and raise the heat to high.
- Pour the wine in the pan and deglaze the pan by scraping up all the brown bits from the bottom.
- When the wine has almost evaporated, stir in the tomatoes and cook stirring occasionally until the sauce is very thick (about 1 hour).
- Transfer the duck to a cutting board and remove all the skin and bones if using whole duck pieces.
- Chop the meat and place back in the sauce.
The duck ragout can be served over any of your favorite pastas. But, as noted above, because it is such a hearty sauce, it seems to work better with wider noodles such as fettucine or pappardelle. Try it with ravioli or potato gnocchi, as well, and sprinkle the finished dish with grated Parmesan.
April is here, and, hopefully, a lovely spring will follow. Before I drag out my grill, I’m going to try this duck ragout on what will certainly be a remaining stubborn cold weekend. Now, if only Bricco would share its recipe with us…..
