Duck-and-tomato sauce
( Sugo anatra e pomodorini )

This sauce made with duck meat and cherry tomatoes is ideal for tossing long or short pasta according to your taste. If you choose a good-quality pasta you can have a fantastic dish! Read more on our blog about handcrafted pasta by Giovanni Fabbri in Chianti Stree near Florence, a very good-quality pasta!

Prepare the duck meat. Remove the skin from the duck legs. This reduces fat and calories.
Put them in a pan, cover with cold water and add the carrot, onion and bay leaf. Season to taste with salt.
Bring to the boil, remove the foam from the surface with skimming ladle, then lower the heat and keep on boiling until the meat is tender.
It's difficult to say how much time is necessary to complete the cooking. It depends on the duck age. Generally we need more than an hour.
Add other water if necessary. So you have to keep some water boiling.
Switch off the gas and let the duck legs cool.

Prepare the sauce. Bone the duck legs and cut the meat into strips. Crush the carrot with a fork. Filter the stock and put apart. You'll add it to the water for cooking pasta.
Saute the shallot in the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Then add the cherry tomatoes with their preserving juice and aromatic herbs. Stir very well and after a couple of minutes add the wine, meat and carrot too. Stir again very well, taste to determine if the sauce needs added salt and keep on cooking on low heat for few minutes. If the sauce gets too thick you can add a little ladle of the water in which the pasta is cooking.
The sauce is ready!
Remember to cook the pasta you've chosen in abundant salt water until al dente stage. Drain it, pour into the pan with the hot sauce and stir. Flavour all the ingredients for a minute on high heat. Serve at once accompanied with grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese in a little bowl. So everyone will be able to sprinkle or not the cheese on the top.

Note

• - You can cook the duck legs 1 day ahead so you can prepare your pasta dish very quickly.
• - If you like garlic you can add a clove to the olive oil and saute it together with the onion.
• - You can substitute the dried aromatic herbs with fresh ones in the right season.
• - The doses are enough for tossing 240 g (8 1/2 oz) of short or long pasta. It serves 3 people. In fact the right portion of pasta is 70-80 g (2 1/2 - 3 oz) per head.

What's the right wine for " Duck-and-tomato sauce "?

Our suggestion is: Bardolino (red wine of Veneto - Italy)