If you want a change from tomato sauce on your pasta, try this recipe for tagliatelle with a duck and red wine sauce.
Tagliatelle with Duck and Red Wine Sauce
This recipe for home made pasta with a duck sauce has been provided by Osteria del Coro, a friendly restaurant in the Tuscan town of Siena (find it at Via Pantaneto 85, T. +39 0577 222482). It appears here with their permission. They make specific suggestions for wine and honey from the hilltown of Montalcino, south of Siena. But if you don’t have these, just substitute with a good red wine and a light runny honey.
Tagliatelle with Duck Sauce Recipe (Serves 4-6)
Ingredients
For the tagliatelle
- 250 g ‘00’ wheat flour
- 250g fine yellow semolina
- 12 egg yolks
- 2 eggs
For the duck sauce
- 1 kg duck breast
- 4 white onions
- 2 carrots
- 1 stick of celery
- A sprig of rosemary (or fresh thyme)
- Two small glasses of Rosso di Montalcino DOC wine
- Acacia honey (ideally from Montalcino)
Method
To make the tagliatelle
- Place the flour on a pastry board in a mound and make a ‘well’ in the centre. Pour the egg yolks and whole eggs into the ‘well’.
- Gradually fill the well with the flour, so that it starts to mix with the egg. Then mix in thoroughly and work the mixture until it becomes pliable and is well blended.
- Stefano Azzi, the owner and chef of Osteria del Coro, suggests that the right technique for mixing the dough is to fold it over several times rather like folding a sheet.
- Let the dough rest for a couple of hours. When it is ready, roll it out with a rolling pin – use a matterello (a thin rolling pin) if you have one. You should end up with one very thin sheet of dough.
- Cut the sheet into long, thin strips – your tagliatelle. (Alternatively, of course, make your tagliatelle using a pasta machine.)
To make the duck sauce
- Chop up the vegetables and duck breast into large chunks. Fry the vegetables gently, then add the duck breast. Add the salt, pepper, fresh rosemary (or thyme) and let the meat brown on a strong heat.
- Reduce the heat, then add the glasses of Rosso di Montalcino and let it cook into the meat. Cook gently for an hour or so, ensuring that the meat is cooked thoroughly. Towards the end, add a teaspoon or so of the Montalcino acacia honey.
- When the duck sauce is ready, boil the tagliatelle in salted water until al dente (probably 2-3 minutes). Drain and then add to the sauce in the saucepan. Cook for a minute or two.
- Serve the tagliatelle and duck sauce with a little fresh thyme.
The copyright of the article Tagliatelle with Duck in Italian Pasta is owned by Rebecca Ford. Permission to republish Tagliatelle with Duck in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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