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Sophie Grigson’s Duck with Moroccan Tomato Confit Recipe

A recipe to try out when tomatoes are ripe and plentiful, this sweet-savoury tomato jam is intense and unusual.

Sophie Grigson’s Duck with Moroccan Tomato Confit Recipe
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Ingredients

For the recipe:
  • 2 duck breasts
  • to taste salt and freshly ground pepper
Tomato Confit
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves freshly and finely chopped
  • 2cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • 500g ripe red tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and roughly chopped
  • good pinch salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon kalonji seeds (also known as nigella)
  • ½ tablespoon orange flower water
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons honey

A recipe to try out when tomatoes are ripe and plentiful, this sweet-savoury tomato jam is intense and unusual. The kalonji seeds add texture and a mild aromatic nutty flavour. Although the jam is usually served as part of a collection of starters, it goes just as well with the meatiness of duck. The tomato confit can be made several days in advance. Serve it at room temperature or warmed through. 

Recipe from Sophie Grigson. Serves 2.

Method

01
First make the confit. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan and fry the garlic and ginger gently for a minute or so. Add the tomatoes, salt, cinnamon and kalonji seeds and cook over a low heat, stirring frequently, until the juices have almost all evaporated; this will take around 40 minutes.
02
Now stir in the orange flower water and honey and cook for another 10 minutes or so, until the mixture is so thick that you can mound it up in a heap. Scoop out into a dish and set aside.
03
Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas mark 7. Prick the skin of the duck breasts all over with the tines of a fork. Heat a heavy-based ovenproof frying pan over a high heat. If it isn’t non-stick, rub the surface with a little oil. Lay the duck breasts skin-side down in the pan and cook until golden brown underneath. Turn the duck over, quickly and carefully pour off excess fat, then put the pan in the oven. Cook for 7 minutes
04
Take the duck breasts out of the pan, and leave to rest for 4–5 minutes in a warm place. Slice thinly and arrange on plates, on a bed of steamed green beans or spinach if you like. Spoon on some of the tomato jam and serve immediately.
05
© SPICES by SOPHIE GRIGSON, published by Quadrille (£20, hardback)Photos ©DAVID LOFTUS