Chef Graziella
Agnolotti del Plin
The pinched pasta of Piedmont, each tiny parcel sealed with thumb and forefinger, filled with braised meat that has surrendered to hours of slow cooking. Butter or broth. Nothing more.
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Bigoli con l'Anatra
Created by
The thick, rough pasta of the Veneto dressed with slow-braised duck, a dish that proves why this region's cooking stands apart from everything else called Italian.
Main Dishes
Italian, Venetian
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
45 min
Active Time
3 hr cook•3 hr 45 min total
Yield6 servings
Bigoli is pasta that fights back. Thick, rough, made from whole wheat flour and pressed through bronze dies that score the surface with tiny ridges. These ridges exist for one purpose: to grip sauce. And no sauce grips better than anatra, the slow-braised duck that Venetian families have served at celebrations for centuries.
This is not restaurant food. This is what a grandmother in the Veneto countryside makes when her grandchildren come home. The duck simmers for hours, the meat falling from the bone, the fat rendering into the soffritto until you cannot tell where one ends and the other begins. The liver goes into the sauce too. This is traditional. The liver adds depth that nothing else can replicate.
Venetian cooking is not Bolognese cooking, not Roman cooking, not Neapolitan cooking. The lagoon and the mainland each have their own traditions. Bigoli con l'anatra belongs to the farms and villages of the Veneto interior, where ducks waddle in courtyards and feast days demand something more substantial than fish. The pasta is chewy, the sauce is rich, and together they prove what I have always said: the first useful thing to know about Italian cooking is that, as such, it actually doesn't exist. There is only this cooking, from this place, made this way.
Bigoli appeared in the Veneto by the 17th century, made with a hand-cranked bronze press called a torchio that only wealthy families could afford. Duck ragù became the traditional pairing because the Veneto countryside raised more ducks than any other region, and feast days demanded the richest sauce the farm could produce. The dish remains obligatory at celebrations in Padua, Vicenza, and the villages between.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole duck
Quantity
1 (about 5 pounds)
cut into pieces, liver reserved
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
1/4 cup
unsalted butter
Quantity
4 tablespoons
yellow onion
Quantity
1 medium
diced fine
carrot
Quantity
1 medium
peeled and diced fine
celery stalks
Quantity
2
diced fine
fresh sage leaves
Quantity
4
fresh rosemary
Quantity
1 sprig
bay leaves
Quantity
2
dry white wine
Quantity
1 cup
tomato paste
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chicken or duck broth
Quantity
4 cups
warmed
kosher salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
dried or fresh bigoli
Quantity
1 1/2 pounds
Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
Quantity
for serving
freshly grated
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole duckcut into pieces, liver reserved | 1 (about 5 pounds) |
| extra virgin olive oil | 1/4 cup |
| unsalted butter | 4 tablespoons |
| yellow oniondiced fine | 1 medium |
| carrotpeeled and diced fine | 1 medium |
| celery stalksdiced fine | 2 |
| fresh sage leaves | 4 |
| fresh rosemary | 1 sprig |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| dry white wine | 1 cup |
| tomato paste | 2 tablespoons |
| chicken or duck brothwarmed | 4 cups |
| kosher salt | to taste |
| black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
| dried or fresh bigoli | 1 1/2 pounds |
| Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggianofreshly grated | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 6-quart Dutch oven or braising pan with lid
- •Large pot for cooking pasta
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Brown the duck
Pat the duck pieces thoroughly dry with paper towels. Season generously with salt and pepper. In a heavy Dutch oven or braising pan, heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Working in batches to avoid crowding, brown the duck pieces on all sides until the skin is deeply golden and has rendered much of its fat. This takes 8 to 10 minutes per batch. Remove the browned pieces to a plate. Do not rush this step. The color you build now becomes the color of your sauce.
The duck will release fat as it browns. This is correct and desirable. You will use this fat to build your soffritto. - 2
Build the soffritto
Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the duck fat from the pot. Reserve the excess for another use. Add the onion, carrot, and celery to the pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are completely soft and the onion has turned golden, about 15 minutes. Add the sage, rosemary, and bay leaves. Cook one minute more until the herbs become fragrant. One can often trace the unsatisfying taste of dishes purporting to be Italian to the reluctance of cooks to execute this step thoroughly.
- 3
Deglaze and add tomato
Pour in the white wine. It will sizzle and steam. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release the browned bits. Let the wine simmer until it has reduced by half and you no longer smell raw alcohol. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, allowing it to darken slightly and lose its raw edge.
- 4
Braise the duck
Return all the duck pieces to the pot, nestling them into the vegetables. Add enough warm broth to come halfway up the sides of the duck. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to the lowest setting. Cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar. Let the duck braise until the meat falls easily from the bone, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Check occasionally and add more broth if the liquid reduces below the vegetables.
The simmer should be lazy, with only an occasional bubble breaking the surface. Aggressive boiling toughens the meat. - 5
Shred the meat
Remove the duck pieces to a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the bones, discarding skin and bones. Shred the meat into rough pieces. Chop the reserved liver fine. Remove and discard the rosemary stem and bay leaves from the pot.
- 6
Finish the ragù
Return the shredded duck meat to the pot. Add the chopped liver and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Stir well and let the sauce simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, allowing the liver to cook through and the flavors to concentrate. The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. Taste and adjust salt. The ragù is now ready, though it improves if left to rest for an hour or more.
- 7
Cook the bigoli
Bring abundant salted water to a vigorous boil. Add the bigoli and cook according to package directions for dried pasta, usually 10 to 12 minutes. Fresh bigoli cooks in 4 to 5 minutes. The pasta should be tender but with pleasant resistance at the center. Reserve one cup of the cooking water before draining.
- 8
Dress the pasta
Add the drained bigoli directly to the pot with the ragù. Toss vigorously over low heat for one minute, allowing the pasta to absorb the sauce. Add splashes of pasta water as needed to help the sauce cling to the rough strands. The bigoli should be coated, not swimming. Once the pasta is sauced, serve it promptly, inviting your guests and family to put off talking and start eating. Pass the grated cheese at the table.
Grana Padano is traditional with this dish in the Veneto, though Parmigiano-Reggiano is equally correct. The choice is yours.
Chef Tips
- •If you cannot find bigoli, use dried whole wheat spaghetti or bucatini. The rough texture matters more than the exact shape. What you cannot substitute is the chewiness that whole wheat provides.
- •Ask your butcher to cut the duck into pieces, or do it yourself: separate the legs, thighs, and breast sections, keeping the wings attached to the breast. Save the carcass for stock.
- •The liver is traditional and adds a depth that nothing else can replicate. If the thought troubles you, leave it out, but know that you are making a different dish.
- •This ragù improves dramatically on the second day. Make it ahead for a dinner party and reheat gently with a splash of broth.
Advance Preparation
- •The ragù can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. The fat will solidify on top, which can be removed or stirred back in when reheating.
- •The completed sauce freezes well for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating gently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 480g)
Calories
1145 calories
Total Fat
50 g
Saturated Fat
17 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
29 g
Cholesterol
165 mg
Sodium
780 mg
Total Carbohydrates
90 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
51 g
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