Duck ragu with bigoli is a traditional dish here in Veneto where I live. In fact, if you visit the region you are bound to find it in many restaurants. It is also often cooked by the Venetians on holidays or feast days.

Bigoli looks like a very thick spaghetti and is often eaten with various fat-rich sauces; the most well-known bigoli recipe is with duck ragu. In the past, the traditional recipe for this dish involved cooking the pasta in a fatty broth in which a young duck had been boiled. 

The Venetians then made a sauce with flavored butter and the offal of the duck, which they ate with the bigoli. The duck itself was eaten after.

DUCK RAGU Recipe :

Ingredients :

1 whole Duck

5 Tablespoons Olive Oil, and 1 tablespoons Butter

1 Carrot & 2 Clery Stalks, and 1 small Onion

2 Bay Leaves and I bunch fresh Sage

3 tablespoons Tomato Paste, and 1 cup Tomato Pasta (puree)

3/4 teaspoon Salt, and 3/4 teaspoon ground Black Pepper

3/4 cup dry Red Wine

1 pound fresh Bigoli Pasta, or Spaghetti or Bucatini 

Cut the Duck into 4 pieces, and place on a large baking pan. Season with a little salt and black Pepper. Place in a 350 degree oven and roast for 16 minutes.

Take the Duck out of the oven and pour off excess fat that has rendered out of the duck. You can save the fate to use for roasting potatoes at another time.

Place the duck back in the oven to cook more.

Place the olive oil, carrots, onions, and Celery in a large pot and cook on medium heat for 4 minutes. Sprinkle on a little Salt and Black Pepper, and continue cooking on low heat for 7 minutes.

Add the Tomato Paste to pot and cook on high heat for 4 minutes. Add the wine, and cook on high heat for 7 minutes, until the wine half reduced by half its original volume.

Add the tomato paste and sage and cook on medium heat until the tomatoes start to bubble.

Remove the Duck from the oven after it has cooked for a total of 30 to 35 minutes. Drain the fat off the Duck.

Place the Duck pieces in the pot with the Tomatoes. Cook on low heat for about 1 and 15 minutes. Make you stir the bottom of the pot from time to time with a wooden spoon, to keep the sauce from burning on the bottom.

Remove the Duck from the pot and let it cool for about 15 minutes. Also remove the burn of Sage and Bay Leaves from the pot and discard.

Once the Duck has cooled, remove the meat from the bones. Place the duck meat back into the sauce pot and cook on a very low flame for 20 minutes.

Cook your pasta of choice as the duck is simmering.

Take a half cup of pasta water from the pot and set aside. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain the pasta in a colander. Place the pasta back in the pot it cooked in, add about 2 cups of the Duck Ragu to the pot, with a knob of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mix. 

Divide the pasta among 4 to 6 plates, in equal portions. Add about 3 tablespoons of the Duck Ragu on top of each portion of pasta and serve.

Serve with grated Prmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano Cheese on the side.

Enjoy !

RECIPE by Daniel Bellino Zwicke