Duck Carpaccio With Pistou Sauce

An exotic appetizer, carpaccio is often served in fine dining restaurants and luxury hotels. Carpaccio is traditionally made with thinly sliced raw beef and served with a mustard dressing or olive oil dressing but the dish has transformed and evolved since its conception and various types of carpaccio has been made and experimented with including fish, fruits, seafood, and in this recipe, duck! In this recipe, duck carpaccio is dressed with a pistou sauce made with basil, walnuts, hazelnuts, and pine nuts for a truly flavorful and stimulating appetizer.

The essential thing when making this recipe is to slice the duck meat very thinly since this is the essence of carpaccio. To do this, you need a meat slicer or slicing machine but if you don’t have one, use a very sharp and long knife to slice the meat as thinly as possible. To make it easier, the duck breast with the fat on is wrapped in cling film and frozen. Once the duck breast is frozen, it is easier to cut it into very thin slices and it melts lusciously in the mouth when it is eaten.

Ingredients

For the pistou (sauce):

1.76 oz. (about 3 ½ tablespoons) basil

2 teaspoons walnuts

2 teaspoons hazelnuts

2 teaspoons pine nuts

salt, pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

For the presentation:

1 duck breast, sliced (about 1 pound)

1 mixed salad bouquet

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

basil leaf

Preparation Instructions

1 To prepare the pistou, chop the basil, walnuts, hazelnuts, and pine nuts. Pulse in food processor and season with salt and pepper. Progressively add olive oil to obtain a thick paste.

2 Wrap duck breast in plastic film and freeze until hard. Cut into thin slices with a slicing machine.

3 Using a paintbrush, cover 4 serving dishes with the pistou sauce. Place the duck slices on each of them, covering the entire plate. Salt, pepper, and cover lightly with pistou. Repeat a second time.

4 Season the salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

5 Lay a small bouquet of salad in the middle of the dish. Decorate with a basil leaf.