Roast duck & griddled plum salad

This slow-cooked duck salad makes a great centrepiece for entertaining – dinner party guests will love the range of textures and flavours

  • Prep:25 mins
    Cook:2 hrs 30 mins
    plus cooling and chilling, cook for 4 hrs 30 mins if using a slow cooker
  • Serves 4
  • More effort

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 815
  • fat 38g
  • saturates 11g
  • carbs 73g
  • sugars 38g
  • fibre 7g
  • protein 42g
  • salt 2.5g

Ingredients

  • 3 duck legs
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 500ml pomegranate juice
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 175g bulghar wheat
  • 6 plums, halved and stoned
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 300g green beans, trimmed and halved
  • seeds from 1 pomegranate, or 110g tub pomegranate seeds
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 50g toasted flaked almonds
  • 200g pack feta cheese, crumbled
  • large bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • small bunch mint, leaves picked and torn if large
  • 100ml pomegranate juice
  • 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses (or 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly plus 1 tbsp lemon juice)
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 preserved lemons, middles scooped out and discarded, skins finely sliced
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • 1 tbsp clear honey

Tip

Use up the stock

The cooking liquid from the duck will be packed with flavour, so don’t throw it away. Once cooled, skim off any surface fat, then freeze until needed. Strain into your next tagine, fragrant stew or curry. 

Method

  1. Up to 2 days before, sit the duck legs in your slow cooker or a small casserole or baking dish – if you don’t have a slow cooker, heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Pour over the stock and pomegranate juice so that the legs are submerged. Poke in the cinnamon stick, cover with the lid, or tightly with foil, and slow-cook for 4 hrs on High, or in the oven for 2hrs, until the duck is really tender. Cool in the liquid, then chill until you make the salad.

  2. One hour before you want to start the salad, lift the duck legs from the liquid, pat dry with kitchen paper and sit in a roasting tin to dry out a little.

  3. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Rub the cumin and cinnamon all over the duck legs with plenty of salt and some ground black pepper, and roast for 15-20 mins. Meanwhile, cook the bulghar wheat following pack instructions, then drain well. Heat a dry griddle pan, brush the halved plums with a little olive oil and griddle for about 5 mins on either side. Set everything aside to cool a little while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

  4. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the green beans and cook for 2-4 mins until tender but still with some bite. Drain under cold running water to cool.

  5. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients with plenty of seasoning.

  6. When the duck is cool enough to handle, shred the meat and crispy skin from the bones. Transfer to a platter with the roasted plums, pomegranate seeds, red onion, bulghar wheat, green beans, flaked almonds, feta and herbs. Toss everything together gently with the dressing and eat immediately.

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