Duck and Chianti lasagne

We've adapted this from a book called The Complete Cookbook, written/edited (we think!) by Weldon Owen. We've made it a few times now and improved on it slightly each time.

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 duck legs

6 rashers of pancetta

pack of mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, diced

2 leeks, sliced

1 carrot, diced

3 celery sticks, diced

4 large tomatoes, diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

tbl sp chopped fresh rosemary

tea sp chopped fresh/dried oregano (optional)

tea sp chopped fresh sage (optional)

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of allspice

tin of chopped tomatoes

1/3 bottle of chianti

bechemel sauce

mix of cheddar and parmesan, grated

fresh or dried lasagne sheets

salt and pepper

olive oil

• Cook the duck legs in a pre heated oven until cooked through. We tend to do this the night before. Remove the skin and shred the duck meat. Set the meat aside in the fridge until needed. Save the excess liquid fat for roast potatoes.
• In a little olive oil cook the pancetta, onion, leek, celery and carrot until the pancetta is starting to crisp. Then add the mushrooms and garlic and continue to cook until the mushrooms have softened.
• Now add the fresh tomatoes, herbs, and other seasonings before adding the wine. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes on a high heat and then turn the heat down low and add the chopped tomatoes.
• After another 10 minutes or so add the reserved duck meat and leave to simmer on a low heat for at least an hour. After an hour taste it and adjust the seasoning.
• Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees and start to asemble the lasagne. We find that this works best with a sprinkling of grated cheese between each duck ragu/lasagne sheet layer, but with the bechemel sauce only going on the very top, before being sprinkled with extra cheese.
• Cook for approx 35-40 minutes if you're using dried lasagne sheets and 20-25 minutes if you're using fresh lasagne sheets.