Lasagna with Duck Ragout
Region: Italy
Category: Pasta-Baked
Season: Winter
Difficulty: Labor Intensive

This is a fantastic lasagna.  The duck must have all it’s fat and skin removed and you can render the fat and make chitterlings of the skin.  The duck cooks a long time until it is very tender.  If you can manage it, making your own homemade sheets of lasagna makes this preparation truly noteworthy.

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings
Preparation Time: 4:45 hours

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

One 5-pound duck, cut into 8 pieces, all skin and fat removed

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

1 celery talk, finely chopped

6 large garlic cloves, very finely chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

1 cup dry red wine

4 pounds ripe tomatoes, cut in half, seeded squeezed out, and grated against the largest holes of a standing grater down to the peel

1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 1/4 cup water for 15 minutes, then chopped

1 pound no-boil (instant) lasagna

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped

2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. In a large flameproof casserole, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil with the butter over medium-high heat, once the butter has melted cook the duck pieces on all sides until brown, about 5 minutes.  Remove and set aside.

2. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and parsley and cook until soft, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.  Pour in the wine to de-glaze the casserole, making sure you scrape the bottom and sides to pull up any bits of duck.  Once the wine has nearly evaporated return the duck pieces to the casserole along with the tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to very low (you may have to use a heat diffuser) and simmer, partially covered, until the duck is very tender and the sauce is thick, about 3 hours.  Remove the duck from the sauce and remove all it’s meat, discarding the bones and returning the chopped meat to the casserole.

3. In a lasagna baking pan, spread a thin film of olive oil and ragout over the bottom and cover with a sheet of lasagna.  Spoon some duck ragout over the lasagna and then a sprinkle of mozzarella and parmigiano cheese.  Cover with another layer of lasagna and continue in this order until all the ingredients are used up ending with ragout.

4. Pour the porcini mushrooms and their liquid over the lasagna.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

6. Cover the lasagna pan with a tented piece of aluminum foil then bake the lasagna until the cheese is melted and bubbling, 1 hour.  Serve hot or cool and freeze.

Variation: 

Note:  For frozen lasagna, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and place the frozen lasagna in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.

Posted: 12/27/2006