Italialicious

This is an incredibly chic salad that’s ready in no time. Preparing duck is very easy, but you have to eat it rare or medium rare. I know how afraid North Americans get when it comes to eating nearly raw food. But trust me, you’ll just love duck!

Ingredients
2 duck breasts
2 cups mixed mushrooms (crimini and oyster)
1 can chickpeas
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Olive oil
Thyme, salt and pepper

Before cooking the duck, with a sharp knife cut the duck breasts on the skin side in a crisscross pattern. Your cuts must be deep enough to almost get into the meat, taking care to not actually touch the meat. We want the duck to lose the fat in the skin while it’s cooking, but we don’t want to lose the juices. Sprinkle the skin side of the duck with some coarse salt and pepper. In a skillet, sauté the duck with a light touch of olive oil for about 3 minutes over medium-high heat, on the skin side first. When the skin is nice, golden and crunchy, sprinkle some salt on the meat side and turn the duck. Sauté the duck breasts for about 7 minutes over medium heat. In the meantime, drain and wash the chickpeas. To warm them up, use your microwave oven or quickly sauté them in a skillet (you can even rinse them using hot water).

When the duck is ready, take it out of the skillet and wait for about 2 minutes before cutting. Use the same skillet to sauté the mushrooms until nice and golden brown. Cut the duck into nice chunks, and put these on top of the chickpeas and mushrooms. Drizzle with a generous quantity of olive oil and lemon juice, and some salt and fresh thyme.

Tip
Even though you could eat this salad cold, you can appreciate the flavors better when it’s eaten warm.