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Pasta with Duck Confit Sauce; a plan

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Duck Confit Pasta

I don’t have a lot of canned food in my pantry. There is usually tuna, and maybe tomatoes in case I run out of the frozen ones from last summer. There is almost always duck confit…. confit de canard.

A can of confit will have 4 or 5 cuisses or thigh / leg pieces which is enough for at least 2 meals for us. Plus there is enough duck fat to keep us happy making fried potatoes for a few weeks.

It’s also a big mess to deal with. The duck is totally covered in the fat – that how it’s made. Hands work best to pull the duck pieces out of the fat and get most of the fat off. It’s a good fat. Duck fat isn’t solid at room temperature which means it’s less saturated than, say, bacon fat.

The duck is fully cooked so its ready to be used in other dishes or heated in a skillet or the oven to be served as a main course. It has the skin on which I leave if I’m roasting or frying it but otherwise remove and cut up for the dog.

Now you know…..

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Pasta with Duck Confit Sauce

Pasta with Duck Confit
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This is a quick sauce as the duck is already fully cooked. The pasta is finished in the skillet to thicken the sauce and absorb flavors.

  • Author: Katie
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 2 servings 1x
  • Category: Pasta

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 leg / thigh pieces of duck confit (confit de canard)
  • 1 medium carrot
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 rib celery, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbs duck fat
  • 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup (4oz, 120ml) red wine
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 2 tbs Greek or plain yogurt
  • 4oz (120gr) tagliatelle or other long pasta

Instructions

  • Bring large pot of water to a boil for the pasta
  • When boiling add pasta and cook until almost, but not quite done…. 1 – 2 minutes less than needed.
  • Peel carrot with a vegetable peeler, then continue to shave carrot with the peeler for paper-thin slices. Set aside
  • Warm duck in the microwave or oven – just enough to melt the fat and make it easier to handle.
  • Wipe the duck fairly clean, reserving 1 tbs of the fat for cooking.
  • Remove and discard the skin.
  • Cut or shred the duck into bite-size pieces.
  • Heat 1 tbs duck fat in a large skillet. 
  • Add onion, celery, and sauté 5 minutes.
  • Add carrot, garlic, paprika, and sauté 3 minutes
  • Add duck to skillet and heat through.
  • Add wine, tomato sauce, oregano, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer.
  • Just before adding pasta stir in yogurt.
  • When pasta is ready, drain and add to skillet.
  • Simmer until pasta is done and sauce has thickened.
  • Serve.

Notes

If you don’t have (or don’t want to use) duck confit you could substitute (fixed misspelling) ground beef or sliced pork tenderloin, sautéed with the onions and finished when the sauce simmers. You could also sub traditional pasta for a higher protein version like Pete’s Pasta.”
 

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/2 recipe
  • Calories: 695
  • Sugar: 11.2 g
  • Sodium: 179.2 mg
  • Fat: 24.6 g
  • Saturated Fat: 8.4 g
  • Trans Fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 62.6 g
  • Fiber: 6.9 g
  • Protein: 45 g
  • Cholesterol: 133.3 mg
Tagliatelle with Duck Confit

Beef & Mushroom Sauce on Tagliatelle is also a favorite comfort food pasta.

I realized today that I’m drifting.

When we had our first lockdown, back in the beginning of the pandemic, I had a plan of all the things I was going to do.

I didn’t do them all, but I had a plan.

Then the weather warmed and I was busy outside, in the potager, walking, swimming and enjoying the sunshine. I no longer needed a plan.

During the second lockdown I didn’t bother with a plan – it was getting close to the winter holidays and that would / did keep me busy.

Now it’s the end of January and I have done nothing and the end of the pandemic is not in sight. We’re not in lockdown but we are not back to the “old normal” and likely never will be. We are most likely going to be under some sort of restrictions for the next year or forever.

I need a new plan.

I have things to do and things that I want to do. I just never get around to doing them.

I do a little of this and a little of that and all of a sudden the day is over and I’m wondering where the time went.

Tomorrow I’m going to make a plan.

I’ll let you know how that works out.

8 thoughts on “Pasta with Duck Confit Sauce; a plan”

  1. I’ve never had duck confit. I’ve never seen canned duck! Never. Either not enough people would buy it to justify the stores in our area carrying it or they’re not sophisticated enough to want to try it.

    I, like you, usually lose my way this time of year regardless of lockdown. The weather isn’t conducive to going out more than pushing the dog out and dragging him back in, there’s only so much you can clean over and over and over again, and our bigger projects, like finally putting closets in the two bedrooms (which aren’t really bedrooms according to our state because they don’t have closets) upstairs aren’t something I’m allowed to do. That’s one of hubs’ projects and he ‘can do it himself’. :/ So I do specific things on specific days and the rest of the time, I read. Or crochet. Or…something. And long for the warm weather to get back out in the gardens.

    As a side note, yesterday morning, it was five degrees here. And it’s snowed for two days. Can we say stir crazy? 😉

    • I have no interest in cleaning. I’ll do it in March when I can at least open the windows for some fresh air. It’s been so windy we’ve had to close some shutters so now we’re in the dark, too. Yes, stir-crazy here as well.
      The duck confit comes from the ducks raised for foie gras – and the French eat a lot of both, The breast are sold separately, like steaks…. We actually like them better than steaks.

  2. It’s amazing how accessible duck confit is in your corner of the world. When I have made confit recipes on my blog, you often tell me how cheap it is in France while I have to pay $12 minimum for two shrink-wrapped leg quarters. I love making pasta sauce out of it because it spreads it out nicely. Your pasta looks great and it seems to me if you are cooking and writing blog posts, you aren’t doing nothing.

    • But I’m not doing anything fun!!!! But neither is most of the rest of the world. It’s more just lack of ambition, for me, I think. I’ll get over it with some sunshine. – also like most of the rest of the world.
      As to the ducks – raised for foie gras, then the legs and wings go into confit and the breasts for the grill. We have a little shop that sells nothing but duck in all it’s forms – except whole for roasting. I rarely see that.

  3. I am a real ‘cheater’ when it comes to duck. I just hate all the mess, so I order it at one of our Chinese restaurants. I cannot wait to try think wonderful sounding dish. Every year Costco sells pre-cooked Breast-leg combos, this would be a great 2nd meal from it, too. since I don’t fry food I don’t need the duck fat. perfect for a cold February night.

    • And it is a mess. But I try to clean it all up first or I destroy my oven and cook top. Nice cheat from the Chinese restaurant. Our closest one is 40 minutes away lol. As to Costco – I’ve never been in one, but my S-I-L in Hawaii loves the one she goes to.

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