Duck Ravioli in broth

The raw ravioli and cabbage

When I was a kid growing up in my mother’s kitchen, on special occasions, she would take over the dinning room table, covering it with heavy linen sheets which she inherited from her mother and which I inherited from her, and roll out wide, paper thin sheets of pasta.  Her pasta was so thin, a politician could see right through it; I can only roll pasta that thin though a pasta machine, but could never do so by hand.  She would then carefully fill the ravioli with a ricotta cheese mixture by hand.  My mother’s ravioli and lasagna were always cheese only.  My aunt Phip would make a meat variation.  But no one would make anything like this ravioli.

Ok, so this is a lot of work.  It can’t be done in one day and has to be stretched over a week; the long time line breaks the work down into bite sized portions, which makes it doable.  But, even if it’s a lot of work, the resulting dish is so wonderful, so satisfying, that it is well worth it.

If you want to save yourself a lot of work, you can find duck confit at good quality, local butcher shops – or if you want to make a day trip out of it, you can travel to Mariposa Farm out Plantegenet way.  That will save you two days worth of work.  I include the technique for making confit here, because if I’m making confit, I’m making more than called for in this recipe, because it’s just so damn good.

Similarly, you don’t have to make your own pasta – and really, if you’re going to make your own pasta, you should have a pasta machine – you can get pasta at local pasta shops.  But here’s the thing, while the pasta is fresh, it is made in a machine that has to extrude it – an awful phrase when used to describe food – and can’t be too moist or it will gum up the works.  So again, it’s up to you; it’s a lot more work  to make, roll out your own pasta, but if you love pasta, it makes a pasta which is lovable.  A final note on the pasta: this is an egg pasta, more characteristic of the pastas of northern Italy; the pasta can be made with whole eggs, less eggs, or no eggs.  As you travel south in Italy, the use of eggs in pasta falls off and in the very poor south, can result in a water-oil-salt and flour pasta.

This is a winter pasta, incorporating the flavours and textures of the foods of the root cellar: even or maybe especially, while I’m making the confit for dish, in its origins, making confit was a method of preserving the fall harvest against the winter.  As well, this incorporates parsnip, celery root and apple – and you could add or substitute squash to the recipe.  I add almonds to the dish because of what the texture adds to the ravioli; if the nut is a problem, either use a substitute or omit it altogether.

Ok, so I think given all my maybe this, maybe that and suggestions on how to make this less work, I think we’re ready to cook.

Duck ravioli with braised cabbage in a rich duck broth

Duck Confit , Winter Vegetable, Apple, Almond, Goat

and Parmesan Cheese Ravioli

served in a duck broth, with braised red cabbage

for the duck:

6-8 duck legs, fat trimmed and rendered

1/4 cups black peppercorns, roasted, coarsely ground

1/4 cup juniper berries, roasted, crushed 

2 Tbsp. orange zest                                                2 Tbsp. allspice

¼ cup thyme, cleaned, left on stem, chopped

3 bay leafs, crushed                                              1 cup kosher salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

Combine all the ingredients together.  Lightly cross hatch the skin side of the duck – you shouldn’t cut through to the meat.  Sprinkle lightly with the cure and let stand overnight.  Scrape off the excess cure.

to finish the confit:

rendered duck fat (above) plus additional duck fat or lard to cover the duck legs

2 cups onion, cut in quarters                                  2 heads garlic, smashed

6 bay leafs                                                                10-12 stems thyme

Place the duck legs on the bottom of the a roasting pan in one layer – you don’t have to crisp the legs at this time, the skin is crisped before serving.  Place the onion, garlic, bay leafs and thyme over the legs.  Warm the fat/lard and cover the legs; cover with foil and place in a 250° oven, or cook on the stove top, not letting the fat temperature go over 250°.  It will take about 2 – 2 ½ hours to finish the confit.  It should easily flake off the bone hen done.

for the pasta:

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour                   1 cup semolina flour

4 egg yolks                                                               ½ cup water

¼ cup olive oil                                                          1 tsp. salt

Combine the flour, semolina and salt; set aside.  Whisk together the egg yolks, water and olive oil;  fold the egg mixture into the flour, working to combine.  If it hasn’t completely come together, add a tablespoon of water at a time to bring the dough together.  Knead for 5 minutes; set aside to rest for an hour.  Process through a pasta machine.  This is a moist pasta and will require only a light egg wash to seal.

for the ravioli filling:

1 cups goat cheese                                                 ½ cup ricotta cheese

¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated                        

½ cup almonds, toasted, finely chopped  

1 cup each parsnip and celery root cut into a very small dice

½ cup apple, peeled, seeded, cut into a very small dice

2 cups duck meat finely shredded

¼ cup mixed herbs - chives, parsley, thyme - chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Place  2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan – its easiest to use a non-stick pan – an warm over a medium heat until it is frothy; add the parsnips, sautéing until lightly caramelized and tender; set aside.  Repeat the process with the celery root and apple, setting aside to cool.  Blend the cheeses, cooled vegetables, duck meat, herbs and almonds.  Adjust the seasoning.

for the cabbage:

10-12 cups red cabbage, cored, very thinly sliced

8 bay leafs                                              1 bunch thyme

1 cup each apple cider, white wine

1 cup butter, chopped                 salt and pepper to taste

Place the cabbage in a baking disk, toss w ith herbs, pour stock etc. over the cabbage, dot with butter.  Cover, bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes, until very tender.