Duck ragout recipe

Duck ragù is a tasty and perfect sauce to use to season pasta for a special occasion. Here's how we prepare it!

If you are looking for quick and easy recipes to prepare condiments to use for your family lunches , you cannot miss the recipe for duck ragù. The undisputed protagonist is obviously the bird's meat , but not everyone knows that the typical preparation is that of white duck ragù without tomato puree, peeled tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. Condiments of this type are typical in some regions of Italy, such as Veneto, let's discover the recipe immediately!

Preparation of duck ragout

1. To prepare the duck sauce, start by preparing the herbs : clean the celery, carrot and onion, chop them and place them in a large pan with 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil.
2. Brown for a few minutes and in the meantime cut the duck meat into small pieces or, if you prefer, mince it with the meat grinder.
3. Add the minced meat to the mix of herbs, add the sage, rosemary, salt and pepper.
4. Let the meat brown, then add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste ( optional ).
5. Mix well and blend with the wine . Allow the alcohol to evaporate, add the hot broth and mix, cooking over medium-low heat for approximately 80-90 minutes .
6. If during the cooking of the ragù you notice that the sauce thickens excessively you can add a little hot broth if necessary (so keep some aside or prepare a little more).

Now that we have seen how to make duck ragù, you will be interested in knowing how to use it: we recommend using it to prepare a traditional recipe such as bigoli or to season tagliatelle or pappardelle.

Tips and variations

The recipe we have proposed is the classic one for white duck ragù, however the red version is also very popular (we believe that the peeled tomatoes or puree cover the taste of the meat too much and this is why it is not our first choice) . If you want to prepare it with tomato, however, simply replace the broth with 500 g of peeled tomatoes or puree : after blending the meat with the wine, pour in the puree and lower the heat to minimum, closing with the lid. Then cook as per the original recipe for at least 1 and a half hours.

After this variant we want to close with a few useful tips to best prepare the dish.
– Size of the meat . You can choose, as previously mentioned, whether to completely chop the pulp with the appropriate kitchen utensil or cut it coarsely with a knife. If you have the chance, we recommend you mix it up to have more textures in each bite.
– If you can , don't throw away bones and skin . Add both to the pot together with the chopped vegetables so that they flavor even more. Before adding the meat, remove the skin, but leave the bones until just before adding the broth (or puree)… you'll see how it tastes.