Duck Confit and Butternut Squash Ravioli

You can buy prepared duck confit, but if you would like to make your own, you’ll need to start a day in advance.

Trim the extra fat off the duck legs and store for later use. Place duck legs in a non-reactive storage container.

To the bowl of a food processor or blender, add salt, sugar, shallots, garlic, thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Pulse quickly until well combined.

Pour the combined salt mixture over the duck legs, making sure to coat the legs completely. Cover the bowl and place in refrigerator to let the legs cure for 24 hours.

The next day, rinse the duck legs in cold running water to remove excess salt mixture. Pat dry and place the legs in a Dutch oven. Melt the rendered duck fat and pour over the duck legs, adding enough to cover. Place a lid on the pot and bake at 250°F for 6 hours.

When duck legs are thoroughly baked, remove from the oven and strain off the fat. (You can keep the duck fat in the fridge for up to 6 months to use in other recipes as cooking fat.)

Let the duck legs cool and when they are cool enough to handle, pull the flesh from bones and shred it into a mixing bowl. Discard the skin and bones.

On a clean work surface, make a nest with the flour; add egg yolks, salt, and olive oil. Gently mix with 2 fingers to obtain a rough dough. Slowly add the milk while continuing to mix until you have a smooth, shapeable dough. Knead with the palm of your hand for a few minutes. Wrap the dough in a damp kitchen towel and let rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, roll the dough into very thin sheets. (Use a pasta roller if you have one.)

If you wish to use the pasta later, you can dust the sheets with flour and stack them.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and sear the chopped shallots, garlic, and thyme until the alliums start to color. Add the parmesan, white wine, water, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and let simmer until reduced by half. Strain and return the stock to the pot.

Add the chopped squash to the stock and cook until squash is fork tender. Add the cream and carefully blend with an emersion blender until you get a smooth creamy sauce. Add salt to taste.

Heat up a large pot of salted water until boiling. Blanch the diced squash in the boiling water until still slightly firm. Drain and place squash in a mixing bowl along with the pulled duck meat. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and sauté chopped mushrooms and shallots. Add to the bowl, and combine all stuffing ingredients well.

Lay out pasta sheets on a floured board and cut out 3-inch rounds with a cookie cutter.

Mound about a tablespoon of stuffing in the center of each pasta circle. Brush some egg yolk all around the stuffing, fold pasta circle in half, and press edges firmly, first with your fingers then with the tines of a fork to seal the ravioli well so they do not open up during cooking.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ravioli and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and quickly sear the ravioli in a pan with a little butter just for a little color.

In a separate pan, warm up the Parmesan and Butternut Sauce.

Delicately set 4 or 5 ravioli in the center of each bowl, drizzle the sauce around and a bit over without fully covering the ravioli. Finish with pomegranate seeds and fresh herbs.