Mafalda

Duck, Parsnip, Cherry

Holy smokes, mafalda is a pasta with a super tragic story. The pasta was named after Princess Mafalda who was born in 1902 but later died at the hands of Nazis during WWII. Google it, because it’s a wild and sad story. However the pasta, the pasta is beautiful. It’s like someone took the best part of lasagna and made it narrow and short for optimal sauce clinging abilities. I didn’t know if I was going to like working with the shape, but seeing how it held onto the elements of this ragu it was clear this was the right sauce for it.

When you think about duck served with cherries, it’s somewhat mimicking an agrodolce, which is one of the best sauces to cook a fatty meat with in Italy. This sauce really plays with those concepts, marrying the sweetness of the cherries and sour of the tomato into a single sauce, with parsnips playing the role of intermediary. But, the real star is the braised duck and the crispy duck skin which offers some real texture to the finished dish. And oh boy does it all work together, I walked around the house eating the left over sauce out of a deli container until there was no more.

Servings: 4 - Time: 2.5+ hrs - Difficulty: 3 - Mama Mia

Ingredients & Mise en Place

16 oz. mafalda
4 duck legs - skin (with fat) removed and reserved
6 parsnips - peeled, quartered, and cut into ⅛” slices
½ c. dried cherries
6 garlic cloves - minced
1 large red onion - diced
2 celery stalks - diced
28 oz. crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 ½ c. red wine - from northern italy
4 bay leaves
fresh nutmeg
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
fresh cracked pepper
freshly grated parmesan

Directions

In a dutch oven add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium. Once warm add in the garlic and onion – stirring frequently until soft and fragrant – about 3-5 minutes. Next add in the parsnips and celery, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Once all of the vegetables are beginning to soften add in the duck legs and bring to a high heat to get a good sear on the outside meat. As the duck finishes searing, add in the red wine, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and bay leaves. Bring the heat to a medium-low and simmer covered for at least 2 hours. As you check in on the ragu, if it looks thicker than you want it to be, add in a little water.

After about two hours, check on the ragu and if the meat begins to fall off the bone remove the duck legs from the sauce and turn heat to low. Once cool enough to handle remove the meat from the bones and shred with two forks. Return to the sauce and add in the cherries and nutmeg to taste.

Preheat oven to  400° F and also bring a large stock pot of heavily salted water to a boil.

Pat the duck skins dry with paper towels and season with course salt. Place the skins (fat side down) on a deep cookie sheet and put in the oven on the middle rack. The fats will begin to render out and the almost fry the skins - if you want to speed up the process or aren’t seeing a nice Maillard reaction, you can place the oven on broil and place the sheet on the top rack. You want these to come out crispy, so make sure the skins get golden brown before removing. The whole process took me about 10 minutes with careful watch to not start an oven fire. Once brown, remove from the oven and place on some paper towel to soak up the oils and crisp up. Drizzle the liquid fat into a heat safe container and reserve for use later.

Add the pasta to the water and cook until al dente which is about 6 minutes for mafalda. Strain the pasta and add to a deep sauté pan. Hit the pasta with a little olive oil and then begin to add the ragu one ladle at a time for an even coating on all the pasta. Divide into 4 portions and cover each portion with a generous amount of additional sauce. Finish each plate with a crispy duck skin and cheese to taste.