My pantry is always full of cans and spices, and I've had to shed quite a few over the years as time gets away from me or as I move cross-country. I've also picked up quite a few treasures over the years as my friends move. My most recent gift was a large can of duck confit direct from Paris, set to expire in a little more than a month. It became the focus of my next Sunday Supper dinner party.
"Au Revoir" Duck Confit Pasta
a recipe by Emeril Lagasse
basic pasta recipe by Smitten Kitchen
The thing I most regret willfully donating in a move is an ornate, gorgeous gilded gold mirror that was larger than me. It made its way over to my new city, but I had no space for it in my tiny starter apartment and I was forced to give it away to the guys who moved me. There's a spot near the entryway of my current apartment that misses it dearly, and I know it'll be hard for me to find another just like it.
How about you, dear reader? Is there anything you lost, purposely or not, in a move that you really wish you could get back?
Fresh Pasta - Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 tablespoons water, if needed
Duck Confit Pasta - Ingredients
up to 1/4 cup duck fat
2 tablespoons each of finely diced carrots, celery root, Shiitake mushrooms, onions, and beets
2 cups chunky meat, pulled from duck confit
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
1 cup chicken stock
2/3 pound pasta sheets, freshly torn into pieces
salt and black pepper
Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Fresh Pasta - Directions
1. Combine all of the pasta ingredients in a food processor. Run the machine until the mixture begins to form a ball. You're looking for a dough that is firm but not sticky. If needed, add water at a drop at a time until it comes together. Place ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and invert a bowl over it. Let it rest for an hour. You'll have about 10 ounces or a little less than 2/3 pound of fresh pasta dough.
2. Get your work area ready-- one option is to line a large tray with waxed paper. Dust the waxed paper with flour. Keep more waxed paper and flour nearby.
3. Working with a quarter of the dough at a time, run in through your pasta roller on the widest setting (usually "0"), then repeat this process with the roller set increasingly smaller ("1," "2," "3," etc.) until the pasta is very thin.
4. If you find your dough sticking, lightly flour it. If it gets too big to handle, cut it in half. If the piece gets too wide for the machine or becomes annoyingly irregularly shaped, you can re-"fold" the dough by folding the sides of the dough into the middle, like an envelope, and press it flat. Then, run the piece back through the machine with the open sides up and down on the widest setting again ("0"), working your way thinner. This allows the machine to "press" any trapped air out.
5. Lay your pasta on the floured waxed paper in a single layer, trying to keep the pieces from touching. Score the pasta sheets with a knife into 1/2- to 1-inch strips.
6. Heat a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Because the pasta is thin, it only needs to be in the pot for about a minute or two to cook al dante. Drain.
7. Finely dice all of the vegetables.
8. Then it's time for the star of the dish, the duck confit. If you've bought a can of it, the duck confit is sitting in a lovely vat of duck fat.
9. In a large saute pan, heat 1 teaspoon of duck fat, add vegetables and duck confit, and cook 4 minutes, tossing often.
10. Add thyme and stock, bring to a boil, and allow liquid to begin reducing.
11. Add pasta directly to the saute pan. Toss to combine, adding more duck fat for flavor if desired. Season to taste; black pepper goes well with this dish.
12. Top with freshly grated cheese.
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