Duck Ragu with Pappardelle

I roasted a duck last weekend, and had half of the duck leftover. What to do with it? I remember the very tasty pasta dish with duck ragu at our favorite local French restaurant, Plan B. I'm not sure exactly how they make their dish, but this comes close. While Plan B may be my inspiration, I also had some help from Mario Batali's recipe, which I found online. I used many of the same ingredients that he uses, but I cook them up differently, in what I hope is a more healthful way, without sacrificing taste.

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced
2 cups cooked duck meat, shredded
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup low sodium chicken stock
1 can stewed tomatoes, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

fresh pappardelle pasta

Directions:

Bring the water to a boil. Add the dried mushrooms, boil for one minute, then turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 10 minutes. Prepare the vegetables while the mushrooms soak. Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet or dutch oven. Add the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot and cook until the onion begins to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the cooked duck, along with the wine, chicken stock, and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat. Remove the mushrooms from their liquid (save the liquid!), and chop them. Add the chopped mushrooms to the duck mixture. Cook the mixture until it gets thick. This should take about 30 minutes. Add some mushroom stock if it starts to get too thick and begins to stick to the pan. Taste the ragu, adding salt and pepper if needed. You may not need to add any salt, especially if your tomatoes and chicken stock had salt in them.

To serve, cook the pappardelle, according to directions. Dish up 1/2 cup pappardelle on a plate, and top with 1/2 cup of the duck ragu.

Serves 4

Stealthy Cooking Tip: This is absolutely delicious with freshly made, homemade pappardelle. However, fresh pasta from your market is delicious, too - and make this healthy duck recipe convenient. Serve this with a green salad for a complete meal.