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© Copyright 1995-2023, Clay Irving <clay@panix.com>, Manhattan Beach, CA USA
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Recipe from: Los Angeles Times, Wed 27 Oct 2004
Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes plus 2 hours simmering
Servings: 6 to 8
4 carrots: 1 cut into large pieces; 3 diced, trimmings reserved, divided
3 stalks celery: 1 cut into large pieces; 2 diced, trimmings reserved, divided
1 yellow onion, diced, trimmings reserved
2 fresh bay leaves, divided
½ teaspoon peppercorns
salt
1 (5 to 6 pound) whole duck
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup Marsala (or white wine)
1 (10 ounce) can peeled Italian-style tomatoes, with juices
½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
Place the large pieces for carrot and celery and the carrot and celery trimmings in a medium saucepan with 1 bay leaf and the peppercorns. Add 8 cups of water on one-half teaspoon salt, bring to boil and reduce heat. Simmer while you prepare the duck.
Use kitchen shears to cut the duck into 4 pieces (breasts and thighs). Reserve the liver. Cut breasts in half crosswise if that will make them fit into the pan more easily or make it easier to have all the skin touching the pan.
Season the duck with salt and pepper and place the pieces skin side down in a large frying pan over high heat. You want all the skin touching the surface of the pan, so you may want to use two pans. Sear the duck skin for a few minutes until it begins to give off some fat. Add the garlic cloves and thyme sprigs to the pan and continue to cook the duck until the skin is crispy and brown, 10 to 12 minutes total. Drain off the excess fat, turn the duck pieces over and cook the flesh side just to sear, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain off all the fat and set aside.
Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium- high heat. Add the diced carrots, celery and onion and sweat until the onion is tender and translucent, about 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the duck pieces and the Marsala and cook until most of the wine has evaporated, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomotoes to the pan and break them up around the duck. (At this point, discard the garlic and thyme sprigs left in the bottom of the pan you cooked the duck in.) Add the juices from the tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes to cook off the rawness.
Add 4 to 6 cups of the simmering stock, pouring it through a strainer, until the duck is almost covered. Add the remaining bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, reduce the heat, and cook the duck in the liquid for about 2 hours.
Remove the duck pieces from the sauce and discard the bay leaf. Skim off the fat and set aside one-half cup of it. Any remaining fat can be reserved for another use.
Pass the sauce through a food mill or strainer, pressing the solids through, and return to a clean pan. Pull the duck meat off the bones. You want to keep all the duck meat you can, as well as the nice clean slabs of duck skin from the breasts. Chop the duck meat and skin and add them to the pan with the sauce. Finely chop the liver and add it to the sauce as well.
Cook the meat in the sauce for about 20 minutes, until the sauce is thick and gravy-like. Stir in the reserved duck fat. Season with salt and pepper and toss with pappardelle. Top with grated cheese and parsley and serve while the pasta is still steaming.