DUCK SUGO SEDUCTION

             Sugo + Nonna = Tasty Meat Gravy. Its       almost the same as the newly found art of the crock pot but just with out the set it and forget it. You see with Italian cuisine nonna (grandma)  doesn't leave the house. She nutures the sugo. Early that morning she negotiates the meat with the butcher. She picks the herbs from the garden, she fries the meat in the fat from her prosciutto brodo. And if she were from bologna she would finish the gravy with the unpasturized milk from her neighbors cows utter while double fisting a bottle of Lambrusco in the other hand. Well.... my irish grandma would if she were from bologna. But really... Have you had a bolognese sauce here in america. It is crap. It is made from hamburg meat. The true Bolognese sauce was made from hand ground hanger steak and braised like a piece of shortrib. Creating layers of flavor from constantly reducing the natural juices in the pan to form a fond (Crust and the bottom of the pan) and then deglazing it with a small amount of liquid only to reform the fond and repeat. This is how you need to treat the sugo or any sausage ragu for that matter. You dont just turn the stove on low and walk away.

        In this case we are using ground duck leg meat to make our duck sugo. Just ask your butcher to order some in for you. Before we get to that lets talk about the prosciutto brodo. Ask your butcher to save all of the prosciutto scraps and end pieces for you. Im am sure they will be happy to do as there is quite seldomly a request for this. This means you don't have to buy the proscuitto at full cost but at a cheaper rate. You should have about 2 # of meat for this recipe.

Cube up the prosciutto and put in a pot covered with water and bring to a simmer. Skim off all the impurities and lower the heat to medium and cook covered for about 3 hours until all of the fat has melted into the brodo and the connective tissues in the meat have broken down. Enjoy the aroma of cured meat broth that takes over your domaine. For this is the smell of authentic Italian cuisine. Not fussy but time consuming.



I strained my prosciutto brodo into a mason jar and covered with an air tight lid. And into the fridge overnight. Use the fat at the top if the brodo to fry you duck meat in. Think of it like melted lardo.


                                                                                                                                                                        







     Now we are ready to start cooking. Take off the fat from the the top of the prosciutto and fry the ground duck meat in it at a very low tempurature. Break up the meat so that there are no large lumps. Deglaze with a little water to release some of the fond on the bottom of the pan. At this point add in a half of sweet onion, 2 ribs of small diced celery, a half of bulb of fennel, half of a grated carrot, 2 cups of mushrooms ( preferably black trumpet, chanterelle or porcini), 1 tsp of rosemary and a quarter pound diced of pancetta. Slowly cook the vegatables and mushrooms until you obtain a golden color and the fat from the pancetta renders out.

Once a fond builds on the bottom of your pan then deglaze with white wine. In this case to balance the richness of the duck i used about 2 cups of a dry moscato. Once again reduce the wine until you create one last fond to build layers of depth and richness.

Deglaze with about 5 cups of your prosciutto brodo and a half of cup of milk. Lightly season as the prosciutto brodo is has a pronounced salty flavor. Cover and simmer on low heat for at least 2 hours adding more liquid if it gets too dry.

Finish the Duck Sugo with a tablespoon of vincotto ( Fig Vinegar) and a basic tomato puree. (Pureed Good quality Italian Canned tomatoes. Note: I use carmelina from Whole foods) About 1 cup. Reduce the gravy until it coats the back of a spoon.


The Fig Vinegar and tomato puree give the sauce a nice balance of sweet and acidic that helps cut the richness of the duck. Notice how this is not a tomato based sauce but rather finished with a little tomato.

Now For the Ricotta Cavatelli                                

10 oz of Tipo "OO" Flour ( Buy on Amazon)
8 oz of drained Ricotta Cheese
2 Large Eggs
Season with salt and pepper




Mix the ricotta Cavatelli dough in a stand mixer with a hook or buy hand until you form a firm and tacky ball. About ten minutes. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes under a damp cloth and divide into 6 pieces. Roll the pieces into small logs and Dust heavily with flour. Run through a cavatelli machine and drop into lightly salted water for about three minures. You can order a Cavatelli Machine from Amazon.com for about 40 dollars.

Add the cavatelli into the duck sugo and let the cavatelli absorb any last bit of juice from the sugo. Here i finish the duck sugo with a little home made espresso infused olive oil and a healthy grating of grana padana. Cavatelli is just as good the next day and holds up well to the sauce. You can bake the dish in a cast iron post the next day to finish off the leftovers. I have been eating it for the last three days now and every time my taste buds are captivated by it.