Duck-stuffed Ravioli with Herbs, Spices, and Fruit
This appetizer is a meat-lover’s dream: duck, prosciutto, boiled ham, smoked bacon, and foie gras, tucked into pasta and served on a rich sauce made from the pan glaze. Crisp fresh bean sprouts top the plates. The recipe uses some unusual flavorings together -- juniper berries and gin, coriander, dill, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger -- but the combination is elusive and delicious. By using the same cooking pan and fat, the flavors keep compounding.
Ingredients
- Meat Filling
- Duck Breasts - 2 (about 6 ounces each)
- Prosciutto, boiled ham, and smoked bacon - 3/4 cup each,diced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Juniper berries - 2 tablespoons
- Onion - 1/2, minced
- Shallots - 2, minced
- Truffled foie gras or chicken livers - 4 ounces
- Egg Yolk - 1
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 2 tablespoons
- Raisins - 48
- Coriander seeds - 24
- Dill sprigs - 1 - 2 large
- Sauce
- Pan and juices from meat
- Jigger of gin - 1
- Chicken Stock (see Basics) - 1/2 cup
- Duck Demi-glace (see Basics) - 3/4 cup
- Peaches - 1-1/2, peeled
- Apples - 1-1/2, peeled
- Flour for dusting
- Honey - 2 tablespoons
- Unsalted Butter - 2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons
- Turmeric - 1/4 teaspoon
- Cinnamon - 1/4 teaspoon
- Ginger - 1/4 teaspoon
- Juniper berries - 1 tablespoon
- Pasta Dough
- All-Purpose Flour - 1-1/4 cups
- Whole Eggs - 3
- Olive Oil - 1 teaspoon
- Fresh bean sprouts - 1 cup
- Olive Oil - 2 teaspoons
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
To prepare the meat: Remove the skin and excess fat from the duck breasts. In a large skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat, render the duck skin and fat. Add the prosciutto, ham, and bacon and saute until slightly browned. Drain the pork meats, reserving the fat and the cooking pan. Set the pork meats aside.
Dice the duck breasts. Season the duck meat with salt and freshly ground pepper. Grind the juniper berries and sprinkle over the duck. Cook in the same pan in the reserved fat until browned. Drain the duck meat, reserving the fat and the cooking pan again. Set the duck meat aside. In the same pan and reserved fat, brown the onion and shallots. Drain and set aside, again reserving the pan and any remaining fat; by now, the pan with have a glaze of meat juices on it.
Place the cooked meats, onions, and shallots in a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add the foie gras, egg, and cream and process for 20 - 30 seconds, until the mixture is blended and smooth.
To make the sauce: Put the same cooking pan over medium-high heat and pour in the gin and chicken stock. Stir to bring up the browned bits and glaze. Stir in the demi-glace, reduce heat to low, and warm the mixture. Cut the peaches and apples in small wedges. Dust the apple slices with flour. In a small saute pan over medium-high heat, warm the honey, Add the peaches, apples, 2 teaspoons of butter, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, and whole juniper berries. Stir to blend and saute until the fruit is softened. Add the meat juices. Reduce the heat to medium and stir occasionally until the mixture thickens to the consistence of syrup.
To make the pasta: Make a circle of the flour on a work surface. Break the eggs inside. With your fingers, pull the flour over the eggs and blend until a soft dough forms. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then process through a pasta machine to roll into at least 24 thin squares. Place the meat mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip. Pipe a strip of meat diagonally across the center of each pasta square, leaving space on either end. Place a raisin on each end of the meat mixture, and press a coriander seed into one of the raisins on each square. Lay a few fronds of dill on each. Fold up each square, forming a triangle, and press the sides to seal. Straighten the sealed edges with a pizza cutter.
