Marcos Duck Egg Pasta Ravioli Recipes

DUCK EGG RAVIOLI, SHEEP'S MILK RICOTTA AND ALMOND BROWN BUTTER

Steps:

• For the ravioli: Mix together the ricotta, orange zest, parsley, Parmesan cheese, and season well with freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
• Lay the pasta dough out in long sheets on your counter. Working quickly, place 4 dollops of ricotta mixture along 1 sheet pasta, spacing them about 5 inches apart. Form the ricotta mixture into small "nests" with sufficient space for a duck egg yolk in each.
• Carefully transfer the yolks into each ricotta nest.
• Using a spray bottle filled with water, gently mist the pasta sheet to seal. Lay the second sheet of pasta over the first and use a ring cutter to seal. Seal the pasta gently with fingers.
• Dust a half sheet tray with flour and transfer the ravioli to the tray. Freeze until needed.
• When ready to serve: Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the ravioli approximately 2 to 3 minutes, being careful not to overcook.
• For the sauce: Add the butter to a saucepan over high heat; as it begins to melt, add the sage leaves and almonds. Allow the butter to brown. Squeeze in the orange juice and add a ladleful of pasta water. Add the Parmesan cheese. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the ravioli from the water and place directly into sauce, tossing to coat. Transfer the ravioli to plates and finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
• To make the pasta dough: Mound the "00" flour on a cutting board or countertop. Sprinkle the salt over it. Form a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yolks. Add the olive oil and break each yolk. Using a plastic bench scraper or your fingers, draw the flour over the yolks from the perimeter. Continue to mix the flour into the yolks until it's all incorporated, kneading only enough for it to come together. Shape the dough into a rectangle, about 1/2-inch thick. The mixture should be dense, flaky, and crumbly. Cover the dough with a damp towel and let it rest for 10 to 30 minutes.
• Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Take one piece of dough (keeping the others covered) and flatten it with your hands. If the dough feels very dry, dampen the surface with a few drops of water using your fingers or a pastry brush. Starting with the rollers of your pasta machine set to the widest setting, pass the dough through, five or six times, or until the dough begins to become pliable. Do the same for the remaining pieces. Narrow the rollers by one setting and roll each piece through it once. Continue narrowing the rollers and rolling the pasta through each consecutive setting one time until the dough has reached the desired thickness.
• Proceed to cut the pasta as desired, tossing the finished pasta with the rice flour to prevent sticking. The pasta at this point can sit at room temperature covered with parchment or a dry towel, something that will allow it to breathe but not dry out, for up to half a day. It can also be cut as desired, tossed with rice flour, and frozen in plastic bags for up to a month.

DUCK RAVIOLI

Steps:

• For the filling: Saute pork with garlic for a few minutes and drain fat.
• Place pork-garlic saute into mixing bowl, and add duck, chard, basil, oregano and parsley.
• Run mixture through meat grinder, processing into a fine paste, and return to mixing bow.
• Mix in ricotta, egg yolks and salt.
• For the ravioli: Sift the flour into a mound on the mixing board, make a hole in the middle of the flour, and add the eggs, water and salt to the flour.
• Beat eggs with a fork, slowly mixing in about half the flour, then mix in remaining flour with the hands, adding a little water if necessary to give the dough the proper consistency for rolling.
• Let it rest while mixing the other batches, adding each batch to the original, kneading it into a large ball.
• After the mixture has rested for 15 minutes or so, cut ball in half and place it on the floured bread board.
• Using a 30" wooden rolling pin, roll dough until paper thin, sprinkling with flour to ensure that it does not stick or tear.
• The key is to put very little pressure on the rolling pin, wrapping the dough around the pin and gently spreading it with the palms of the hands as it is being wrapped. *You can tell if the dough is ready if you can hold it up by the corners with two hands and find that it is translucent.
• For the sauce: Saute garlic and mushrooms in olive oil/butter mix.
• After 5 minutes, add marsala, cooking until about half the marsala has boiled off.
• Reduce heat to simmer, mix in whipping cream, and stir for a minute or two.
• Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour mixture on ravioli and enjoy!

WILD DUCK PORCINI RAVIOLI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 F degrees.
• Start a large stock pot of water to boil for ravioli.
• For the Filling.
• Rinse duck and pat dry. Season inside and out with salt and pepper. Cut vegetables into wedges. Stuff duck cavity with vegetables and squeeze juice of orange into cavity. Place duck on roasting rack. Roast for 15 minutes on 450. Reduce heat to 350°F and cook until thermometer reads 160 in thigh.
• Remove meat from bone, reserving bones to make a secondary stock. (this could be used in place of the reserved mushroom stock as suggested for the ragu-it would give greater depth to the dish without the mushrooms overpowering the delicate ravioli).
• Shred or dice very fine the duck. Moisten with meat with the juices from roasting pan if necessary.
• For the Pasta Dough.
• Mix dry ingredients, eggs, water and salt in a bowl. Knead dough until it is silky soft (about 25 minutes by hand).
• Roll out on a floured surface to ¼ inch thickness. If dough is sticky, sprinkle with flour.
• Using a biscuit cutter or small glass, cut 3-inch circles from the dough.
• Place a spoonful of the mixture in the center of the circle and top with another circle of dough.
• Crimp the edges with a fork, being sure to completely seal the ravioli. If needed, moisten the edge of the bottom circle with cold water before crimping the top circle over the filling.
• For the Ragu.
• While duck is roasting, place dried wild mushrooms in heat-proof container and add boiling water to cover. Allow to stand until mushrooms are reconstituted, about 1 hours or so. Drain mushrooms, reserving liquid. Chop mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. Reserve.
• Add veal demi-glacé to sauté pan along with reserved mushroom liquid (be sure to strain mushroom liquid to remove any particles and/or residual dirt). Create a sauce from the demi-glace making sure it isn't too thin or too thick. Add mushrooms to the sauce. Adjust seasonings as needed.
• For the Ravioli.
• Make ravioli by filling with desired amount of duck, sealing with egg wash (or water) and removing all air bubbles from each ravioli.
• Cook ravioli in boiling water until al dente, about 6 minutes.
• Drain ravioli, reserving some of the pasta liquid. Quickly add ravioli to ragu. Gently toss to coat ravioli with ragu. Add additional cooking liquid from pasta if necessary. You don't want this too dry.
• Dish into pre-heated, large shallow rimmed bowls. Place a 1/4-1/3' slice of Foie Gras on top of ravioli.
• Serve with parmesean cheese on the side.