Lasagna with Roast Duck Legs and Mushrooms
Region: Italy
Category: Pasta with Fowl
Season: Winter
Difficulty: Easy but long cooking time

This is a delicious free-form lasagna to serve on a winter’s night.  A free-form lasagna is a pasta preparation where the sheets of lasagne are not baked in layers, but are cooked in boiling water and tossed in a random way or layered haphazardly.  This recipe is inspired by two separate recipes, one a lasagna for duck that come from the lake regions of Lombardy and the other a mushroom lasagna that derives from Liguria.  It’s easy to make this dish because so little is required of the duck.  Since no-boil lasagna is called no-boil because the manufacturer expects you to use it for baking there are no instructions for how long to boil it if you make this recipe, but 6 minutes is about right for al dente.  No-boil lasagna is found readily in supermarkets these days with either “no-boil” or “instant” on the label.  By the way lasagna is singular and lasagne is plural.

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 6 servings
Preparation Time: 2:30 hours

8 duck legs or 1 whole duck, cut into 8 pieces (about 4 1/4 pounds)

10 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Dusting of cayenne pepper

5 large garlic cloves, 2 crushed and 3 finely chopped

3 ounces fresh bread crumbs

3/4 pound cremini mushrooms, brushed clean and sliced

1/2 pound porcini (preferably) or portobello mushrooms, brushed clean and sliced

1/4 pound shiitaki mushrooms, brushed clean and sliced

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

3/4 pound no-boil (instant) lasagna

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. 

2. Place the duck legs on a rack in a baking pan and brush with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a dusting of cayenne pepper.  Bake until golden brown and the skin is crisp, about 2 hours.

3. Meanwhile,  in a large skillet heat 3 tablespoons olive oil with 2 crushed garlic cloves over medium-high heat, then cook the bread crumbs until golden, stirring almost constantly, about 2 minutes.  Set aside.

4. Pour 3 tablespoons olive oil into the skillet you cooked the bread crumbs in and heat over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms, chopped garlic, and season with salt and pepper, then cook until soft and dark brown, stirring occasionally, 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove from the heat and toss with the bread crumbs and parsley.  Keep warm in the skillet.

5. For every pound of pasta, bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil over high heat, salt abundantly with up to 1/2 cup of salt, then add the pasta in handfuls.  Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally so the pasta doesn’t stick together, until al dente, about 6 minutes.  Drain without rinsing.

6. Spread 1 teaspoon olive oil on the bottom of a deep serving casserole or platter.  Layer the bottom to cover with lasagna sheets.  Sprinkle some mushroom mixture, then some parmigiano cheese, and a teaspoon of olive oil over each layer until you use up all the lasagna.  Place the duck legs around the edge and serve.

Variation: 

Note: 

Posted: 12/19/2006