Leftovers- Divina Cucina Style!

When you work as a cooking teacher.. food gets left over often in class.

Sometimes there are only one or two students but the recipe is for 6 people.
I still make that recipe.

The other day it was Duck Ragu.
Am I lucky!

We sort of had to run through making a sauce that normally would take longer but it came out fabulously!

We began with cooking the soffritto ( the heart of all long slow recipes ) a blend of finely chopped carrot, red onion and celery in extra virgin olive oil until the vegetables began to carmelize.

Then we added 1/2 a duck, cut into 1/4 th’s, placing it in the pan skin-side down.
When the skin was golden, turn the duck, brown on the other side and when done, splash with a nice glass of good red wine.

Turn down the heat and add a small can of San Marzano tomatoes, salt to taste, and we added some soaked porcini mushrooms.

Cover and let cook until the duck was done, at least an hour.

Let the meat cool and take off the bone.
Chop finely and put back into sauce.

Mix well and let cook a little more to blend the sauce and the meat.

Cook your pasta, drain well and heat together in pan with sauce, adding some grated parmesan cheese.

Bon appetito!

We served our duck ragu on Tortelli di patate, potato ravioli’s a specialty from Mugello, the hills north of Florence.

My leftovers were a dry gnocchi from Sardegna, called Malloreddus.
no matter what you call it.. Yummy!