Duck legs with silky rich Veracruzan tomato sauce

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Melt in the mouth, slow-cooked duck legs are served with a Veracruzan sauce recipe in this stunning dish. This recipe is taken from Home Cook by Thomasina Miers, published by Faber & Faber. Photography by Tara Fisher.

First published in 2017

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Duck legs in Veracruzan tomato sauce

Method

1
To begin, generously season the duck legs with salt and pepper and leave for 10–15 minutes to come to room temperature
2
Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based casserole and add the legs, skin-side down. Keep the heat on medium-high and brown the legs, rendering the fat for about 15 minutes, decanting as much fat as possible halfway through and adjusting the heat so that the skin crisps and browns but does not burn. Once they are a lovely golden colour, transfer them to a plate. You should have about 4 tbsp duck fat in the pan
3
Add the onion, reduce the heat to medium and sweat gently for 5 minutes before adding the carrots, fennel and garlic. Season generously and allow the vegetables to soften in the fat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
4
Now add the herbs, spices, tomatoes, sherry and stock and cook for about 5 minutes, breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon and bringing everything up to a gentle simmer
5
Return the duck legs, along with any juices, back to the casserole and add a lid, slightly askew to allow some gentle evaporation of the sauce
6
Stew very gently over a low heat, so that the sauce is barely bubbling, for about 1 1/2 hours or until the duck meat is tender and falls away from the bone
7
About 10 minutes before the end of cooking, stir in the jalapeños, capers and olives. Check and adjust the seasoning and serve with brown basmati rice and some sautéed greens

Thomasina Miers was winner of BBC MasterChef in 2005. She is a cook and food writer whose work has ranged from cheese-making and running market stalls in Ireland, cheffing with Skye Gyngell at Petersham Nurseries to co-founding the restaurant group Wahaca.

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