Duck Confit Lasagne

I made duck confit ravioli for Christmas Eve dinner (I haven’t posted it yet because I have so many pictures to sort through). I made it two ways: one ravioli was stuffed with duck confit, morel mushrooms, and ricotta, and was served with a pumpkin cream sauce; the other version was duck confit with pumpkin puree served with a brown butter with sauteed morel mushrooms. Both were great, but very filling. Speaking of filling, I had quite a bit leftover, so I combined both fillings and used it as the base for my duck confit lasagne. There are many schools of thought that suggest that lasagne should be made with a bechamel sauce rather than ricotta cheese. Since I had already used the ricotta as a base for my ravioli filling, I decided to use both for this recipe. I would recommend making this with homemade or fresh lasagne noodles (available in the refigerated pasta section of most grocery stores). I opted for the grocery store version, and they worked out great. Warning: this dish is very rich – I served it with a simple salad of mixed greens and vinagrette. I imagine it would freeze well (most lasagne does), so you could cut individual portions and freeze those to use for brunch, lunch, or easy warm-up weeknight dinners. If you are going to make your own duck confit – you will need to prep two days in advance. Buying prepared duck confit is, obviously, a huge time saver. Serves 8-10.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 Cups Cooked Duck Confit * – shredded
• 1 Cup Pumpkin Puree
• 15 Oz. Ricotta Cheese
• 1 Oz. Morel Mushrooms (fresh or rehydrated dried) – or any other favorite mushroom
• 1 Medium Shallot – finely chopped
• 1 Clove Garlic – mince
• 1 TBS. Olive Oil, plus more for greasing pan
• Homemade or Fresh Lasagne Noodles (can substitute dried lasagne)
• 3- 3.5 Cups Mozzerrella Cheese – shredded
• 3/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese – shredded
• Parsley – chopped for garnish
• Bechamel Sauce, (see below)
• Lasagne Noodles

*You can purchase prepared duck confit at a your local gourmet grocery store, or prepare your own: here’s a great recipe for duck confit.

FOR THE BECHAMEL SAUCE:

• 5 TBS. Unsalted Butter
• 4 TBS. Flour
• 3 Cups Milk
• 2 tsp. Salt
• 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. White Pepper or Fresh Ground Black Pepper

In a medium saucepan, heat milk until just below boiling. In a separate saucepan, melt butter; add flour and whisk until smooth; heat for another 3 minutes. Slowly add hot milk, whisking constantly. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook for an additional 10 minutes over medium heat, whisking occasionally. Turn off heat and set aside.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Prepare lasagne noodles according to directions; run under cold water to cool and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat olive oil, garlic, and shallots over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute until softened – turn off heat and set aside. Combine duck confit, pumpkin puree, ricotta, and butter, shallot, garlic, and mushroom mixture – mix until well combined. Grease a 9×12 baking dish and add one layer of lasagne noodles to cover the bottom. Add 1/2 of the duck confit mixture and spread in an even thin layer. Pour 1/2 bechamel sauce over top of mixture and add 1 cup of mozzerrella chees and about 1/3 cup of parmesan. Repeat process ending with remaining mozzerrella and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with chopped parmesan cheese. Cook at 350 Degrees for 25 minutes and then increase oven heat to 400 Degrees and cook for an additional 10 minutes until top is nicely browned. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with a simple salad. Enjoy!