This tasty recipe is made with a flavorful mix of star anise, fennel, cloves, bay leaf, and rosemary. Rillettes are a preparation of meat similar to pâté, and are normally used as spread on bread or toast and served at room temperature. It is usually made from duck legs and is a perfect recipe to use up the legs after preparing Oven Roasted Duck. This is a remarkably good recipe for lunch or a starter that will please everyone!
❤️About This Recipe
The term rillette is thought to refer to the final product and its appearance when spread on sliced bread. The finished dish will surprise you completely after reading the instructions if you have never tried this before.
Rillettes were traditionally made with fatty pork belly or pork shoulder, but here is a scrumptious recipe using duck legs. Try these delicious pork recipes Pork Loin Recipe With Fruit And Nuts, or Pork Liver Recipe for an appetizer, and Pork Chops In Tomato Sauce.
Not surprisingly, this dish has many regional variations but tend to be focused on Sarthe, Tours and Anjou in France in particular.
More Delectable Duck Recipes
📖 Recipe
Prep Like a Pro
Before you start cooking, chop, measure, and prep every ingredient, and gather your tools.
This simple habit reduces stress, prevents overcooking, and instantly improves your meals. Mise en Place - "Everything in its place."
Duck Rillettes Remarkably Good
Ingredients
- 2 lb duck legs
- 4 star anise
- 3 clove
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 1 large glass of red wine
- about 1 cup of stock or water A variety of stock recipes here.
- 4 whole cloves of garlic
- 1 roughly chopped onion
- 2 roughly chopped carrots
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Fry the duck legs for about 15 minutes in a large pan to gently brown and render off some of the fat.
- Pour the fat carefully off into an oven-safe dish a few times during frying. (Don't throw this away as it's great for roasting potatoes or even frying an egg!)
- Transfer the duck legs into a large casserole dish/slow cooker with all the other ingredients.
- Cook on low heat for 4-5 hours in the slow cooker/casserole or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.
- Remove the duck legs from the cooking liquid and set aside for a few moments until cool enough to handle.
- Strain the remaining cooking liquid/fat through a sieve.
- Shred the duck meat finely with a couple of forks then place in small ramekins or a larger jar.
- Pour some of the cooking liquid/fat over the top of your rillettes and either serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.
- Remove from the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before serving to allow the rillettes to soften slightly.
- Serve on crusty French baguette with a few cornichons and a green salad on the side.
Doug Sipolins says
I upped this recipe to include 2 whole B grade ducks chopped into big pieces. Roasted etc, had to use a lot more stock, upped the flavorings a bit. After cooking, removed the duck, strained the stock, chilled it overnight, removed the fat which I kept for other uses. Then I reduced the stock to concentrate the flavors. Mixed the duck meat and the reduced stock to the point where the mixture would bleed liquid when squished between your fingers. Filled ramekins, topped with a thin inch layer of new, melted duck fat to seal the ramekin. Excellent. Be careful of stray bones!
Judith Coates says
Hi Doug, Thank you for sharing, sounds like you received some inspiration from my recipe! So glad you enjoyed it!