La
Lama Mountain Ovens
Old Italian family recipes and archives, baking tips, and
bakery gifts
Family Secrets
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La
Lama Mountain Ovens |
The best of the recipes, techniques, and methods practiced by our large extended Italian-American family - with emphasis on the legacy handed down to us by the original immigrants. This is a cookbook-in-process project. If you try any of these recipes please let us know how they turn out, whether or not you had any difficulties, and any clarifying improvements you might recommend to make them foolproof. We will of course acknowledge genuine "test-kitchen" assistance. |
Family Secrets #57Tagliatelle con Ragù d'Anatra (Fresh Pasta with Duck Ragù) By Jennifer Dove, La Lama Mountain Ovens |
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September of 2000 I began a six month culinary course based in Northern Italy. The first
two months were spent in Costigliole D'Asti, in Piemonté. The following four months were
spent in Bergamo, a city about one hour north of Milan. It was a wonderful experience
overall, and an especially lovely time of year to be there. During my first two months,
which were spent in school, the truffle harvest was going on. I couldn't have been
luckier. There are only a few areas in Italy and France where truffles are harvested. They
are quite rare and the best come from a place called Alba. Alba was a short drive from
where I was studying, so my classmates and I had the good fortune to visit the truffle
festival several times. Besides the aromatic white truffles, which became a mainstay of my diet for the few months that they were prolific, I discovered many other local flavors that I fell in love with. The wines of Piemonté have |
become my favorite Italian wines. Barolo, Barbera, and Barbaresco are the three big ones there, and are all wonderful. However, Asti and Alba and neighboring regions produce a sweet sparkling wine call Muscato, and it is hands down my favorite of all. It is taken either before a meal as an aperitivé, or afterwards with dessert. The grape is highly aromatic and produces a wine with a light floral and fruity perfume. This more than almost anything else reminds me of Italy. |
 Truffle festival in Alba, Italy, October 2001 |
To describe all the different delicacies I experienced would be impossible. Putting all else aside, the Italians do pasta like no other culture. The handmade pastas (which they almost all are) are to die for. The different variations are too numerous to list. The most unusual thing about their pasta dishes is that each different kind of pasta (tagliatelle, garganelli, pizzoccheri, etc.) is served in a specific sauce, depending on the region where eaten. For example, we made this lovely dish called Orecchiette con le Cime di Rapa, which is orecchiette pasta with Italian broccoli, hot peppers, anchovies and garlic. It is divine. And you will never see that particular sauce served with any other kind of pasta. Why this is, I can only speculate. Probably it is because modern day Italian cooking is so closely related to the cuisine of their ancestors that they just don't change a thing. This is how the dish was made hundreds of years ago, and this is how it will continue to be made. Perhaps it is because they understand that each sauce has its own intensity and texture and is suited to only one shape of pasta that best supports it. I mentioned earlier that almost nothing reminded me of my time in Italy more than a glass of Muscato D'Asti. Well, there is one other thing. A dish called tagliatelle con ragù d'anatra. Tagliatelle is a noodle resembling a thin and short piece of fettuccini. It is a fresh egg pasta with a delicate flavor, yet strong enough to stand up to a ragú sauce. A rag ù is basically a rich meat sauce simmered slowly with a little liquid and seasonings, the most well known being Bolognese sauce. Bolognese is a beef ragù, while the sauce we are dealing with is a duck ragù. The rich flavors are simply amazing, and nothing epitomizes Northern Italian cuisine to me more than this dish. I ate this at least once a week while over there, and now, with the crisp days of autumn upon us, I suddenly miss Italy._______________________________________ Duck Ragù
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Total ingredients to serve four:
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Step one: Remove the skin and fat from duck. Remove meat from bone. Chop meat into small dice. This is the most time consuming part of the recipe. It requires some patience but may be done a day ahead. Refrigerate until ready to use. You may substitute two whole boneless duck breasts (two ducks worth), skin and fat removed. Step two: In a large pan, heat the butter and oil. Add diced onions, carrots and celery (the mirepoix). Over low heat, sweat the mixture until onions become translucent. Add the diced prosciutto and cook for a few minutes. Step three: Increase heat to medium and add duck and chopped sage. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until duck is browned. Step four: Deglaze with red wine and reduce by half. Add tomato sauce and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Adjust seasoning and add parsley. To serve: Cook one pound of home made tagliatelle or fettuccini al dente. Drain well, toss with the just finished (or re-heated) ragù and serve immediately. Altitude Adjustment: None. |
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