Recipe & photography by Ed Barrow.
Ingredients
- 2 duck legs
- 30g of salted butter
- 1 small white onion, finely chopped
- 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, finely chopped
- 1 large sprig of rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsp of cinnamon
- 1 tsp of ground nutmeg
- 1 star anise
- 1 orange, zest only
- 1 tbsp of plain flour
- Small glass of red wine
- 2 large plum tomatoes, quartered
- 400ml of dark chicken stock
- 150g of Northern Pasta Co Rigatoni
- Small handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
- Parmesan, to serve
Method
- Preheat the oven 160fan. Start by seasoning the duck legs all over generously with salt. Then place into a heavy bottomed pan suitable for the oven, skin side down. Place onto a medium low then heat then gently cook for around 5 minutes, until the fat has started to render out of the duck skin and start to fry. Turn the heat up to medium high and fry for a further couple of minutes until well golden brown and a nice caramelisation has occurred over both sides.
- Remove the duck legs from the pan, add the butter followed by the onion, celery and carrot. Saute this down for around 10 minutes on medium low heat until very soft and translucent. Then add the garlic. rosemary, bay leaf, spices and flour. Grate in the orange zest and stir together. Cook for a few minutes until fragrant before pouring in the wine. Let the wine bubble away for a minute before seasoning generously with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes followed by the chicken stock. Submerge the duck legs into the pan, ensuring they are covered as much as possible by liquid. Place a lid on and then into the oven. Cook for 2.5 hours until the meat is falling off the bone and completely tender,
- Once the duck has had its full 2.5 hours of cooking time, place a pan of well salted water on to boil for the pasta. Once boiling add the rigatoni and cook for 9 minutes until al-dente.
- Carefully spoon out the duck legs from the pan then shared the meat off the bone. Add back into the sauce then stir together. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Ad the fresh parsley and stir together.
- Drain the rigatoni once cooked and then add to the sauce, stir together and divide between two bowls.
Finish with some Parmesan over the top and serve.
