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Roast Duck with Pancetta and Potatoes
I wrote earlier in the summer about a duck that my son Hugh and his girlfriend Rebecca got at their CSA farmers' market. It was a delicious treat and I was really happy with the way it turned out, so when Rebecca mentioned that ducks were on offer again last week, I jumped at the chance to cook another one. I didn't want to make the same recipe again, but looking through a bunch of recipes I found that a most of them had the same Asian flavourings and involved frying at the end. I really wasn't in the mood for something like that so I checked out Nigel Slater's cookbook The Kitchen Diaries.
I like Slater's attitude to cooking. He's not averse to making something complex on occasion, but his recipes demonstrate that good ingredients given a simple treatment will provide you with a satisfying meal. His duck recipe provided all the satisfaction one could hope for in a meal, and was unbelievably easy to make. The duck roasts on a bed of potatoes and onions sauteed with pancetta. There is of course, a huge amount of fat on a duck and I had to remove quite a lot during the cooking, but there was still plenty there to cook the potatoes. These potatoes were without question the most delicious I have ever made. I made just enough potatoes for the four of us, but if I had known how good they were I would have doubled the amount. I'll know better next time. In fact, I have quite a lot of rendered duck fat in my refrigerator, so I may just be decadent and roast some potatoes on their own.
We had a really big duck, weighing almost 10 pounds, but most ducks weigh closer to 5. Because of the amount of fat and bone, a 5 pound duck really only feeds 2 people.
INGREDIENTS
| 1 large | duckling, about 5 lbs. |
| 6 medium | potatoes |
| 6 oz | pancetta |
| olive oil | |
| 2 medium | onions |
| 5 or 6 | sprigs of fresh thyme |
| 2 | bay leaves |
| salt and pepper to taste | |
| 6‑8 oz. | Marsala |
PREPARATION:
- Remove the giblets from the duck and rinse the bird inside and out and pat it dry. You can do this an hour or so before you begin to cook and leave the duck in a cool place.
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into finger-thick slices. Cut the pancetta into cubes, then put it into a large roasting pan with a tablespoon of oil. Warm it over a low heat, letting the pancetta flavour the oil but without letting it colour. Introduce the slices of potato into the fat and let them cook slowly. Peel and cut the onions first in half, then each half into about six. Add them to the potatoes along with the thyme leaves stripped from their stems. Turn everything over gently as it cooks, letting the potatoes and onions colour very slightly. Season with salt and black pepper and a couple of bay leaves, then remove from the heat.
- Prick the skin of the duck all over with a fork or sharp knife, taking care not to slice the meat. Season it inside and out with salt. Lay the duck on top of the potatoes, then put it in the oven at 400F and roast for an hour to an hour and a half, until the potatoes are soft and both they and the duck are golden. During the cooking, carefully tip off most of the fat that is pouring out of the duck and that has not been absorbed by the potatoes. Test to see that the duck is done. There should be no sign of blood in the juices and the skin should be crisp and singing. Remove the potatoes to a warm serving dish.
- Turn the oven up to 450F. Put the duck back in the ovenn and let it crisp up for five minutes or so, then transfer it to a warm dish. Quickly pour the Marsala into the roasting pan and place it over a moderately high heat, scraping at any stuck bits in the pan. Whilst the sauce is bubbling, carve the duck and serve it with the potatoes. Spoon the pan juices over the duck.
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