Pappardelle with Duck Ragu & Fig & Raspberry Clafoutis

Main: Pappardelle with Duck Ragu & Sugar Snap Peas
Unknown (from the doctor’s waiting room)

Dessert: Fig & Raspberry Clafoutis
Women’s Weekly The Baking Collection

Hi Everyone,

Hope you’ve had a great week. It’s been fabulous to see the rain and also know that all the fires are out. The weather is starting to cool and whilst I’ll still be doing some salads as autumn moves in, I really wanted to try this duck ragu. It’s a recipe that requires more of your time than others I have done so not an after work meal. There’s not a lot of ingredients in the sauce so it’s fairly straight forward but I don’t cook duck very often and when I have it’s been a bit of a flop so I wanted to revisit the thing I have messed up and give it another go but from a different angle. The idea of a slow cook appealed to me and making the pappardelle by hand was also inviting – almost therapeutic in a way. I liken it to sewing or knitting – there is a total emersion in the task.

This recipe needs to be started at least a day ahead. I started on Monday and salted the duck Marylands for 24 hours before doing the slow cook on Tuesday and keeping the meat in an airtight container in the fridge for Wednesday. Keep in mind that duck Marylands don’t amount to much meat once shredded from the bone.

So the main bulk of this meal is in the pasta. What fun that was to make with my new Kitchen Aid dough hook. However, rolling it out takes time and patience. It tasted just fine and was tender but a bit thick so my next investment will be the Kitchen Aid attachment that rolls the dough. It was certainly fun and cathartic and messy – I just loved it. With the sauce it suggests that you push the cooked tomatoes and onion etc through a sieve or mouli but I find that such a waste in a sauce as rustic as this so I just gave it a zap in the food processor for literally 40 seconds and then back in the pot. Your choice of course but it gave it a roughness that was a lot more earthy and tasty. So this was definitely a change for us from the usual chicken and the consensus was that it was a tasty sauce, the pasta was too thick but nevertheless tender and it was given 7/10. MAV’s comment was “it took you three days to cook this!” He just doesn’t get the joy in it…….

Dessert was another recipe I wanted to revisit. The last time I did a clafoutis I thought I would be smart and cook it ahead and it ended up like leather. With figs and raspberries in season at present this was a no brainer. It is certainly easy and once the ingredients for the custardy base are blended I just popped the whole thing in the dish and in the oven while we ate the main course. By cooking just before serving, it gave a much softer texture and with the mixture of the two very different fruits there was an almost sweet mixed with tangy flavour to it. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and it received 9/10.

So would I do the duck ragu again? Mmmm, probably not – a lot of work for a moderate flavour experience and I have done many a ragu that offer up a greater depth of flavour. Having said that, it was great to try cooking duck again and it probably won’t be the last time I do but just not this particular recipe.

Until next week loverlies.

From my table to yours with love. x

Pappardelle with Duck Ragu & Sugar Snaps

3 duck marylands
1 tbsp sea salt flakes
4 c duck fat
6 ripe tomatoes (halved)
¼ c olive oil
4 sprigs thyme (picked)
1 brown onion (diced)
1 garlic clove (crushed)
10 g butter
⅓ c good quality beef stock
200 g sugar snap peas (trimmed)
grated parmesan to serve

Pappardelle

2½ c OO plain flour
4 eggs

Rub duck skin with sea salt and place in a baking dish. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours
Preheat oven to 115°C. Place duck fat in a medium saucepan over a medium low heat for 10 minutes or until melted. Pour fat over duck, completely covering it. Cover dish with baking paper, then foil. Roast for 4 hours or until meat is falling off bones. Transfer duck to a plate and cool.
Strain fat through a fine sieve into a jug. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for later use. Discard duck skin and bones. Shred duck meat and place in an airtight container. Refrigerate until required.
Meanwhile to make pappardelle, place flour in a mound on a clean work surface. Make a well in centre of flour and break eggs into well. Using your fingers, work egg into flour to form a dough. Knead until smooth and elastic. (Pasta can also be made using an electric mixer fitted with dough hook.) Wrap dough in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 1 hour to rest.
Divide dough into 4 equal portions. Using a rolling pin, roll out each portion until about 1-2mm thick and 30cm wide. Dust rolled dough with flour and stack. Roll up dough stack lengthways to form a log. Cut log into 1cm pieces. Separate pasta into 'ribbons' and toss with a little more flour. Place in a bowl, cover and refrigerate until required.
Preheat oven to 170°c. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place tomatoes on prepared tray. Drizzle with half of oil and sprinkle with thyme leaves. Season with salt & pepper. Roast for 40 mins or until softened. Cool.
Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Cook onion, stirring, for 4 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and roasted tomatoes. Cook, stirring, for 10-15 mins or until mixture thickens. Press sauce through a mouli or fine sieve and return to frying pan. Add shredded duck meat, butter and 1 tbsp of stock. Stir over a high heat until butter melts. Add remaining stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 mins or until slightly thickened.
Cook pappardelle in a large saucepan of boiling water for 3 mins or until al dente, adding sugar snaps for last 1 minute of cooking. Drain. Add pappardelle and sugar snaps to duck ragu and toss to combine. Divide among plates and top with parmesan to serve.

Fig & Raspberry Clafoutis

4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
½ c caster sugar
½ c plain flour
2 c pouring cream
3 medium fresh figs (cut into wedges)
125 g raspberries
1 tbsp demerara sugar
2 tsp icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180°c. Grease a shallow 2 litre ovenproof dish
Whisk eggs, vanilla paste, caster sugar and flour in a medium bowl until smooth. Add cream; whisk to combine. Pour mixture into dish.
Arrange figs and raspberries over mixture; sprinkle with demerara sugar.
Bake clafoutis for about 40 mins. Stand 10 mins before serving. Dust with sifter icing sugar.

Pappardelle with Duck Ragu & Fig & Raspberry Clafoutis