Ingredients

Method

For the confit duck legs:
• 4 Woolworths free-range duck legs
• sea salt, to taste
• 10 g fresh thyme
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick or cassia bark
• 2 lemon, peeled and sliced
• 2 oranges, peeled and sliced
• 2 x 335 g tubs Woolworths free-range duck fat, melted
For the Gruyère béchamel:
• 2 T butter
• 2 T flour
• 1 cup milk, warmed
• 50 g Gruyère cheese, grated
• sea salt, to taste
• ground white pepper, to taste
For the filling:
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 250 g button mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 T vegetable oil
• 250 g free-range chicken livers
• ¼ cup Port
• 4 T butter
• 50 g cooked chestnuts, finely chopped (or use pecans, walnuts, or cashews)
• 50 g breadcrumbs
• 2 T liver pâté
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
To assemble:
• 2 x 400 g packs Woolworths frozen all-butter puff pastry, thawed
• 1 free-range egg, beaten

Method

Ingredients

1. To make the duck legs, rub the sea salt into the duck legs, then place in an ovenproof dish. Top with the remaining confit ingredients. Cover with baking paper and slow-cook over a low heat for 2–3 hours, or until the duck is soft and tender. Alternatively, cover the baking paper with a double layer of foil and roast the duck legs at 100°C overnight or for 8–10 hours. Allow to cool, then remove the meat from the legs and shred.

2. To make the béchamel, melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the flour and whisk continuously for 1–2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the warm milk, until smooth and thickened. Stir in the grated Gruyère until melted and fully incorporated. Season to taste with sea salt and white pepper. Spray a round 20 cm cake tin with nonstick cooking spray or line with clingwrap and pour in a 2 cm layer of béchamel. Freeze overnight.

3. To make the filling, heat the olive oil and butter in a hot pan and fry the onions and garlic until soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms, cook slowly. Heat the vegetable oil in a hot cast-iron pan and sear the chicken livers until golden brown. Deglaze the pan with the Port and allow to simmer briefly. Pour the livers into a sieve to remove any excess liquid and set aside to cool. Once the mushrooms are cooked and there is little to no cooking juices in the pan, add the chestnuts and cook for 1 minute. Place the mushroom-and-chestnut mixture on a clean dishcloth lined with kitchen paper. Chill until cool to the touch. Roughly chop the livers and mushroom mixture and combine in a bowl. Add the breadcrumbs, followed by the liver pâté and stir to combine. Season to taste.

4. To assemble, using a 20 cm round cake tin, cover the base and sides with the puff pastry. Chill for 15 minutes. Tightly pack in half of the filling, then top with the frozen béchamel disc. Tightly pack in the remaining filling and brush the edges of the pastry in the tin with a little beaten egg. Cut out a circle from the remaining pastry, brush the underside with egg, then place on top of the pie. Brush with more beaten egg, then chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Remove the pie from the fridge, make a small hope in the top with the tip of a sharp knife, glaze once more with the egg, then bake for 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden and cooked through.

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Photographs: Sadiqah Assur-Ismail 
Production: Abigail Donnelly
Food Assistant: Bianca Jones