Shredded Duck & Ras el Hanout Canelones

This recipe involves slow-cooking duck legs until they are fall-of-the-bone tender. The duck meat is then mixed with sauteed onions, fresh herbs, and a special spice blend that is popular in Tunisia and Algeria called ras el hanout.

This mixture is then rolled inside cooked lasagna noodle strips, covered with a ras al hanout bechamel sauce, and baked in the oven. The shredded duck canelones are served with a quick red wine pan gravy that includes some of the reduced stock you use earlier to cook the duck legs.

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Shredded Duck & Ras el Hanout Canelones

This recipe involves slow-cooking duck legs until they are fall-of-the-bone tender. The duck meat is then mixed with sauteed onions, fresh herbs, and a special spice blend that is popular in Tunisia and Algeria called ras el hanout.

This mixture is then rolled inside cooked lasagna noodle strips, covered with a ras al hanout bechamel sauce, and baked in the oven. The shredded duck canelones are served with a quick red wine pan gravy that includes some of the reduced stock you use earlier to cook the duck legs.

Ingredients

For the Duck & Canelones:

• 8 bone-in duck pieces containing attached leg and thighs
• 1.5 Tbsp kosher salt
• 2 quarts chicken stock, (preferable homemade fortified chicken stock)
• 1 white onion, (peeled & roughly chopped)
• 2 carrots, (washed & roughly chopped)
• 2 stalks celery, (roughly chopped)
• 4 cloves garlic, (peeled)
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 star anise pod
• 8 whole green cardamom pods
• 2 red onions, (small dice)
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil or ghee
• 1 Tbsp ras el hanout ground spice blend
• Kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper
• ¼ cup fresh mint, (finely sliced)
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, (finely sliced)
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, (finely sliced)
• ¼ cup dried raisins, (plumped in warm water for 5 minutes and drained)
• 24 no-bake canelone pasta sheets, (or 12 lasagna sheets cut in half)

For the Ras el Hanout Bechamel Sauce:

• 4 Tbsp butter
• 5 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 16 oz whole milk, (room temperature)
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp ras el hanout ground spice blend

For the Red Wine & Ras el Hanout Pan Gravy Sauce:

• ¾ cup fortified chicken stock, (from what you used earlier to cook the duck legs)
• ¼ cup red wine
• 1.5 Tbsp corn starch, (or more if needed)
• 1.5 Tbsp cold water, (or more if needed)
• ½ tsp ras el hanout ground spice blend
• 3 Tbsp salted butter, (cubed, kept cold)
• 2 tsp sherry vinegar
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 Tbsp fresh mint, (finely sliced, as garnish on top of sauce)
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, (finely sliced, as garnish on top of sauce)
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, (finely sliced, as garnish on top of sauce)

Instructions 

• The day before you plan on cooking the duck legs and thighs in chicken stock, salt the outside of the duck pieces all over with kosher salt.
• Store the salted duck leg sections uncovered in the fridge on a wire rack on a sheet tray for 24 hours prior to cooking.
• When your salted duck legs have rested uncovered for a day, you are ready to cook them.
• In a large stock pot, bring 2 quarts chicken stock to a gentle simmer and reduce the heat to the lowest setting.
• Add the white onion, carrots, celery, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and green cardamom pods.
• Add the salted duck legs and keep heat low to keep the stock warm, at a temperature below a simmer, or roughly 175F.
• Cook the legs for roughly 4 hours on very low heat, or until the leg meat is falling off the bone.
• Remove the pot from the heat, and allow the legs to cool down in the braising liquid for roughly 30 minutes.
• While the duck is cooling down, cook the red onions in vegetable oil or ghee in a large saute pan on the stove.
• Stir in the ras el hanout ground spice blend.
• Taste and season with salt & freshly-ground black pepper.
• Stir in the fresh herbs and raisins and set aside for mixing with the pulled duck meat later.
• When the duck legs are cool enough to handle, remove them from the stock and pull the meat from the bones.
• Shred the meat up into tiny pieces and place in a large mixing bowl.
• Mix the shredded duck meat with the onion and herb mixture you made earlier.
• Taste the canelone filling mixture and adjust seasoning if needed.
• If the mixture is too dry, add a few tablespoons of chicken stock from earlier.
• To prepare the noodles that will be stuffed with filling, simply place the uncooked noodles in a large casserole dish with some olive oil and cover with boiling water.
• Move them around during the first few minutes as they soften under the hot water. This helps to keep the sheets from getting stuck together.
• Allow the noodles to sit for 4-7 minutes in the hot water bath, and they should be pliable enough to roll.
• Remove them from the water when you are ready to begin rolling your canelones.
• *If you are working with full-sized lasagna strips here, cut the strips in half.
• To roll the canelones, place a few tablespoons of the duck filling mixture on the bottom edge of a soft lasagna strip and carefully roll the strip into a tube, where the duck filling is neatly rolled inside of the pasta tube.
• Place the rolled canelones aside in a lightly oiled plate or dish.
• To make the ras el hanout bechamel sauce, take a small sauce pot and add the 4 Tbsp butter and turn the heat to medium.
• Wait until butter is melted.
• Add the 5 Tbsp all-purpose flour to the melted butter, and stir until the flour and butter are fully combined.
• Cook over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, or until the butter and flour mixture smells toasted and turns a lightly golden-brown color.
• Slowly whisk in the milk in stages, making sure to stir after each milk addition until there are no remaining lumps.
• When your bechamel sauce has reached your desired consistency, remove from the heat and stir in the kosher salt, cayenne pepper, and ras el hanout ground spice blend.
• Taste and add more salt if needed.
• Preheat oven to 370F.
• When you are satisfied with your bechamel sauce, pour half of the sauce in the bottom of a baking casserole dish.
• Arrange the rolled duck canelones from earlier in the bottom of the casserole dish, on top of the bechamel sauce base.
• Top the canelones with the remaining bechamel sauce and bake at 370 for roughly 30 minutes.
• While the canelones are baking, prepare the red wine & ras el hanout pan gravy sauce.
• Heat ¾ cup fortified chicken stock with ¼ cup red wine in a small pot on the stove and bring to a simmer.
• Cook for 5 minutes, or until the alcohol from the wine has been cooked off and the stock has begun to reduce down.
• In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk together 1.5 Tbsp corn starch and 1 Tbsp cold water.
• Slowly whisk the corn starch and water slurry into the boiling stock and wine mixture on the stove.
• Whisk to ensure there are no clumps in the sauce.
• When the sauce has reached your desired consistency, stir in the ras el hanout ground spice blend and the cold cubed butter.
• Stir to emulsify the butter into the sauce.
• Taste and adjust seasoning with kosher salt & freshly-ground black pepper.
• Add a splash of sherry vinegar if you want more acidity.
• Add a tsp or two of honey if you want a bit more sweetness.
• Taste again and adjust seasoning.
• Keep gravy sauce gently warm until your canelones are ready.
• When your canelones are done cooking in the oven, serve canelones on plates, topped with the gravy, garnished with fresh mint, cilantro, and parsley.
• Serve hot!

Notes

If you are feeling adventurous and want to cook the duck legs slowly in oil instead of fortified chicken stock, your result will be really delicious.

You can assemble a casserole dish filled with these canelones and the bechamel sauce a full day ahead of when you plan to bake and serve them. They will also taste wonderful as reheated leftovers.