Puff pastry with stewed duck breast confit, spinach and plums in caramel
4 servings
60 minutes
Puff pastry with confit duck breast, spinach, and caramelized plum is a true embodiment of European gastronomy, combining the tenderness of duck, the sweetness of caramelized plum, and the freshness of spinach. The dish has noble roots in French cuisine, where confit is valued for its rich flavor and velvety texture. The sweet-sour notes of plum infused with spices and duck essence create a unique depth of flavor. The crispy puff pastry baked to a golden crust serves as the perfect base for this exquisite composition. Served with poached spinach in leek and duck sauce completes the harmony of flavors. This dish impresses not only with its aesthetics but also reveals the richness of traditional cooking methods, turning the meal into a true gastronomic ceremony.
1
Sauté leeks in butter, add spices: thyme, barberry, clove, anise. Sear duck breast in butter (score the skin in a crosshatch pattern beforehand).
- Leek: 1 stem
- Thyme: pinch
- Barberry: 1 teaspoon
- Carnation: 1 teaspoon
- Anise (star anise): 3 pieces
- Duck: 1 piece
- Butter: 200 g
2
Place the duck with the leek in a saucepan, along with the melted fat and oil, add hot water to the level of the duck skin but not higher, and simmer on low heat, adding half a glass of red wine or a tablespoon of wine vinegar and 2 tablespoons of cane sugar. In this broth, besides the leek, add celery leaves and carrot and any dried fruit to taste.
- Duck: 1 piece
- Leek: 1 stem
- Butter: 200 g
- Wine: 1 glass
- Cane sugar: 2 tablespoons
- Celery leaves: 50 g
- Carrot: 1 piece
- Dried fruits: to taste
3
Fry dense fresh black plums in butter with sugar, adding duck sauce to it.
- Plums: 10 pieces
- Butter: 200 g
- Cane sugar: 2 tablespoons
4
Cut the puff pastry into strips 7–10 cm wide. Bake in the oven until done.
- Puff pastry: 200 g
5
Sauté spinach with butter, garlic, and lemon juice with salt.
- Spinach: 300 g
- Butter: 200 g
- Garlic: 3 heads
- Lemon juice: 25 ml
6
Spread on the prepared dough, generously coated with duck sauce, layering slices of duck with pieces of sweet-sour spiced plum in between.
- Puff pastry: 200 g
- Duck: 1 piece
- Plums: 10 pieces
7
Generously glaze the duck with plum and roast under the grill for 5 minutes until caramelized. Remove the hot pastries with duck from the oven, which will be covered with a light caramel crust like the pastries, top with cool juicy sautéed spinach and drizzle again with leek-vegetable sauce from the braised duck and plum caramel.
- Plums: 10 pieces
- Duck: 1 piece
- Spinach: 300 g
- Leek: 1 stem
- Plums: 10 pieces