Yield: 2-4 Servings

Duck Pasta

Overhead view of a serving of duck pasta, garnished with lemon zest and parsley

This duck pasta dish is sure to please even the most discerning palate. Tender pieces of duck get cooked in a savory sauce and served over a bed of pasta, resulting in a dish that is rich, flavorful, and elegant.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the Duck:

  • 2 cooked duck legs or leftover duck meat (see notes)
  • 1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

For the Pasta

  • 6 oz. dry tagliatelle pasta, fettuccine or linguine
  • Salt

For the Sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons duck fat
  • 2 medium shallots, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, grated or minced
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup duck broth or chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 lemon
  • Lemon zest
  • Parsley

Instructions

    1. If using sous vide duck, strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve and reserve the broth. If you are starting with leftover duck meat and you don't have extra duck broth, you can use store-bought duck or chicken broth.
    2. Pat the moisture from the duck legs, brush lightly with oil.
    3. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and place the duck legs skin side down and cook until the skin is crispy about 5 minutes. Flip over and brown lightly. Remove from the skillet, transfer to a cutting board and when cool enough to handle strip the meat from the bones and cut it and the skin into bite-size pieces.  Reserve.  
    4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente.
    5. While the pasta is cooking, add the duck fat to the skillet set over medium heat. When the fat is melted, sauté the shallots until softened then add the garlic and cook until fragrant. 
    6. Pour in the wine and cook for 1 minute to burn off the alcohol.  Pour in the reserved duck broth (or chicken broth) and the cream.  Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the sauce is reduced and slightly thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the butter.
    7. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper accordingly. Stir in the reserved duck meat and squeeze the juice from the 1/2 lemon over the meat.
    8. Drain the pasta and add to the skillet tossing until coated with the sauce.
    9. Divide into pasta bowls and garnish with lemon zest and chopped parsley.

Notes

  • Frozen duck legs confit and duck meat products can be purchased in the frozen meats section of most major grocery stores.  You can also use a sous vide immersion cooker to prepare confit-style duck legs.
  • If you are starting with leftover duck meat that does not have any extra fat, you may want to use some additional store-bought duck fat for extra flavor.
  • If you have previously prepared sous vide duck legs and froze them in their broth, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator.  
  • Save every drop of the duck broth and fat as it is full of flavor. If there is less than 1 cup of broth, add chicken broth or water.
  • Fettuccini, linguine, spaghetti, or any long-strand pasta can be used in this dish. When you cook the pasta, make sure you liberally salt the water. Use at least 1 tablespoon of salt for every 2 quarts of water.
  • If you would like the sauce thicker, you can make a cornstarch slurry using 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon of water. Whisk that mixture into the sauce.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 585Total Fat: 40gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 137mgSodium: 452mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 29g

Nutrition information is a guideline only, is calculated automatically by third-party software, and absolute accuracy is not guaranteed.

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