Serves 4
6 Idaho potatoes, skin on
3 egg yolks
1 1⁄2 cups flour
1⁄2 cup freshly grated parmesan
8 sage leaves, finely chopped
4 duck breasts, skin on
4 ounces veal sauce
3 tablespoons butter salt and freshly ground pepper
12 sage leaves, deep-fried and salted
Rub potatoes with some vegetable oil, and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 1 hour or until completely cooked. Split potatoes in half and scoop out flesh onto a cutting board. Pass the potato flesh through a potato masher or mash with a fork. Make a well in the mound of hot potato puree and place egg yolks, 1 cup of the flour, and a good sprinkling of kosher salt. Quickly chop the egg yolk and flour into the potato using a metal spoon or stiff rubber spatula. Add the grated parmesan and finely chopped sage. Knead the dough into a ball, adding just enough flour to make the dough no longer sticky. Pull off small pieces of the dough, and roll into cigar shapes on a floured surface. Cut into 1-inch pieces, and roll the pieces off a fork to create the traditional gnocchi “look.” Spread out the gnocchi on sheet trays—the recipe will make more than you need, but they freeze well and can be used for another meal. In a large pot, boil salted water, and drop the gnocchi in the boiling water. When the gnocchi floats, scoop them up, and drop them in ice water to stop the cooking process. Reserve 24 of the gnocchi and freeze the rest.
Season duck breasts with salt and pepper. Sear skin side down in hot oil until the skin is crisp, turn once for 1 minute, and then place duck breasts in
a preheated 350-degree oven for 2 minutes. Remove duck breasts from oven and place in a warm spot to rest. In a medium saucepan, add veal sauce and 3 tablespoons of butter. Swirl or whisk the butter into the sauce over low heat.
Season sauce with salt and pepper. To deep-fry the sage, bring a small pot of oil to a boil, and drop in leaves for 30 seconds. Drain on a paper towel. Drop the blanched gnocchi back into boiling water. When they float again, scoop them up with a slotted spoon and place them in the pot with the seasoned veal sauce. Flash the duck breasts for 1 minute in oven to rewarm. Remove duck, and slice thinly on the bias (against the grain of the meat). Divide the gnocchi and sauce between four warm bowls, and fan the duck on top of the gnocchi. Garnish with optional fried sage.
