Pan-Seared Duck Breasts with Orange and Ginger Sauce and Roast Sweet Potatoes
Duck breasts pair beautifully with sweet flavours. We score the skin, sear the meat in a dry pan and finish it in the oven so it stays juicy. Alongside, we make a sauce from orange juice, ginger and honey, roast sweet potatoes with rosemary and pecan nuts, and toss a refreshing rocket salad with orange. And if you are planning an unconventional St Martin's Day feast, you can swap the duck breasts for goose.
Prep: 40 min
Servings: 2
Energy: 646 kcal per serving
Method
01.
Clean the duck breasts, score the skin and season with salt and pepper. Sear them dry in a frying pan, skin side down, until the fat renders and the skin turns lightly golden. Then turn the meat over and carry on searing. Once it is golden brown, transfer it to a baking dish, sprinkle with torn rosemary and roast in an oven preheated to 200 °C for about 10 minutes. Drizzle the cooked duck breasts with orange juice, cover with foil and leave to rest.
02.
Pour off the excess fat from the pan the breasts were seared in and heat it again. Drizzle it with olive oil and fry the chopped shallot and ginger. Once they turn golden, add the orange juice, honey, salt and pepper and simmer over a low heat. Then add the butter to the pan so the sauce thickens. Finally, flavour the sauce with the juices from the rested duck breasts.
03.
Cut the peeled sweet potatoes into larger pieces and put them in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with torn rosemary. Roast in an oven preheated to 200 °C for about 20 minutes. Then sprinkle the sweet potatoes with pecan nuts and let them roast for about 2 more minutes.
04.
Put the washed and dried rocket in a bowl. Cut away the orange peel and, with a sharp knife, cut out the segments – orange wedges without any pith. Add the orange segments to the rocket, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.
05.
Serve a portion of the sweet potatoes with pecan nuts on a plate. Place the sliced duck breasts on top and season the cut sides with salt and pepper. Pour over the orange and ginger sauce and serve with the rocket salad.
