Confit Duck Pithivier with Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries

Enjoy this delicious confit duck pithivier with Yorkshire Wensleydale and Cranberries. A pithivier (pit-tiv-ee-er) is a round, enclosed pie usually made by baking two disks of puff pastry.

Ingredients

• 2 duck legs
• 500ml vegetable oil
• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stick
• 500ml white wine vinegar
• 500ml water
• A dash of milk for brushing your pastry
• 50g salt
• 150g sugar
• Fresh salad leaves
• Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil
• 200g Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries, crumbled
• 50g Yorkshire Wensleydale

Method

1. 1. Place the duck legs in vegetable oil with garlic and thyme and confit (slow cook) in the oven at 90 -100°C or in a pan on the hob for 3 hours, or until the meat starts to fall off the bone.
2. 2. Pick the cooked meat off the bone, season well and mix with crumbled Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries.
3. 3. Carefully use a knife or cookie cutters if you have them to cut four 12cm discs of puff pastry.
4. 4. Roll the filling into two neat, tidy, well-formed balls with your hands.
5. 5. Enclose each ball between two pastry discs, decorate the top with a pairing knife and crimp edges, then lightly brush with milk.
6. 6. Bake the pithivier in the oven at 180°C for 8-12 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.
7. 7. Peel and finely slice the carrot into ribbons (this can also be done with a veg peeler) and chop the celery at interesting angles.
8. 8. Mix the sugar, salt, white wine vinegar and water together in a pan then bring to the boil.
9. 9. Allow the liquid to cool slightly then cover the vegetables and leave until slightly soft.
10. 10. Place the pithivier on a plate, arrange the pickled veg in an attractive manor in a line to the side and garnish with fresh salad leaves.
11. 11. Finally, crumble the Yorkshire Wensleydale over the vegetables and serve.

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