When you make Peking Duck, you only eat the crispy skin and just a bit of the meat right underneath. This means that you will have a lot of leftovers: the carcass as well as most of the meat. It is a shame to throw all of this away, especially since you can use this to make a classic Tuscan pasta dish: Pappardelle all’Anatra.
The carcass is used to make a stock, and both meat and stock are used in the pasta sauce. The cooking time is quite long, but there is hardly any active time. Here’s how to do it.
Ingredients
For 2-3 servings
carcass with meat from leftover Peking Duck
50 grams finely minced onion (1 small onion)
50 grams finely minced carrot (1/2 medium carrot)
50 grams finely minced celery (1/2 stalk)
4 fresh sage leaves, finely minced
80 ml (1/3 cup) dry white wine
2 Tbsp double-concentrated tomato paste
1 Tbsp butter
freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
2 eggs
about 200 grams (1 1/4 cup) semolina flour (semola di grano duro rimacinata)
For the stock
chopped aromatic vegetables such as carrot, onion, leek, celery
1 tsp black pepper corns
few thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
Preparation
Start by taking the meat from the carcass, reserving the bones.
Put the bones in a stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and skim away the scum that will rise to the surface.
Add the aromatic vegetables, pepper corns, bay leaf, and thyme.
Lower the heat and let this simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours.
Strain out the solids and sieve the stock with a fine sieve.
I like to use a food processor to finely mince the carrot, onion, celery, and sage.
Sauté the minced vegetables in a frying pan in some olive oil until soft and fragrant and starting to turn golden, 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the duck meat into the food processor.
Pulse until chopped but not pureed.
Add the chopped duck meat to the vegetables in the frying pan and stir for a minute.
Add the white wine and stir until most of it has evaporated.
Dilute the tomato paste in the duck stock.
Add the stock to the meat.
Bring to a boil, stirring, and then lower the heat to a simmer.
Simmer, uncovered, until the sauce has a nice thick consistency.
Meanwhile, make fresh pappardelle from the eggs and the flour using my instructions for making fresh pasta. Pappardelle are at least double the width of tagliatelle, about 2,5 cm (1 inch) or more.
When the sauce is almost ready, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt and pappardelle and cook until al dente. This will only take a few minutes when using fresh pappardelle.
Add a tablespoon of butter, cut into small pieces, to the sauce.
Drain the pappardelle and add them as well.
Toss the pappardelle with the duck sauce.
Serve immediately on warm plates, sprinkled with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano.
Wine pairing
I would recommend a full-bodied dry Italian white or a dry Italian rosé with this. A red wine would overpower the delicate flavors of this dish.
Oh my god this looks good!
Thanks Mimi
I gather that in many Chinese restaurants specializing in Peking duck, a table will get served the skin etc. and then have the meat stir-fried with other ingredients for a second course, plus soup made with the carcass… except that the meat and carcass will actually be from a duck that a pervious group had served to them as a first course!
Yes, I have eaten an outstanding peking duck menu like that in Amsterdam.
They may use a pressure cooker to make the stock, otherwise it would probably be made from yesterday’s ducks. (Not that there would be anything wrong with that.)
Another cracker Stefan, there is a fair bit of work in it but it looks well worth the effort.
Best,
Conor
Thanks Conor. It was mostly waiting, but I suppose my standards for what is and isn’t a lot of work in the kitchen are not ‘normal’
Passion and dedication do not know about the clock.
That duck shot at the beginning reminds me of my peking duck – I never thought to do anything creative with it – I think i just picked at it for hours till I couldn’t move!
This is about as good a use for leftovers as there is, Stefan. That sauce sounds delicious and your photo of the finished dish is tantalizing. Great, too, that you made you own pappardelle. I’ve a tray of it that I made with dough leftover from my upcoming post.
Thanks John. It’s nice that making fresh pasta is now so easy that I haven’t bought tagliatelle, tagliolini/fettucine or pappardelle for ages.