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Nutrition: Per serving

  • kcal584
  • fat37g
  • saturates11g
  • carbs28g
  • sugars10g
  • fibre13g
    high
  • protein28g
  • salt0.4g
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Method

  • step 1

    If you have time, lightly salt the duck legs a day or two before cooking, scatter with some of the thyme sprigs, then cover and chill until needed. (If you don’t have the time, this is not an essential step.) Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Heat a little oil in a shallow flameproof casserole or roasting tin. If the duck legs have been salted in advance, pat them dry with kitchen paper. Sizzle the legs in the tin or casserole, skin-side down, until golden brown and the fat has rendered out. Turn and cook for 10-15 mins to brown them all over.

  • step 2

    Remove the duck legs to a plate and pour away half the fat from the casserole or tin (you can save this for roasties). Return it to the heat and fry the carrots, garlic and thyme along with some seasoning for 5 mins until the carrots are starting to soften. Sit the duck legs on top, skin-side up, then pour about 100ml water over the veg. Bring to a simmer, cover and transfer to the oven to cook for 1 hr 30 mins.

  • step 3

    Remove the casserole from the oven and uncover. Turn the oven up to 200C/180C/gas 6. Lift the duck out onto a plate and stir the beans through the carrots and thyme. Sit the duck back on top, then return to the oven, uncovered, to cook for another 20-30 mins until the duck skin is crisp and the beans are simmering. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 10 mins, then serve straight from the dish.

Recipe tip

Adding extras
For the full cassoulet effect, fry some bacon with the carrots and add some Toulouse sausage along with the beans. Scatter over some breadcrumbs, chopped parsley and extra chopped garlic 10 mins before the end of cooking time.

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Comments, questions and tips (7)

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A star rating of 5 out of 5.13 ratings

Kitchenwizz

question

I want to cook this recipe in a Le Creuset cast iron casserole dish. Do i need to adjust the oven temperature and/or cooking time for this recipe when using this?

5xfcvf9y4603644

I always use a le creuset for this type of dish. There is no need to change anything

SuffolkSue

Followed the recipe and read other helpful comments. After frying off duck legs, added onions, celery and bacon lardons to carrots, then wine, as everything went into slow cooker. Excellent flavour. Very similar to meals we have had in France.

janetarrant1

Surprisingly delicious with so few ingredients and really easy to make. The duck was really tender and tasted like confit. I replaced the water with a Perry cider which worked really well. My family was very impressed.

HenriettaRabbit

tip

really enjoyed this. I added a little butter to the initial frying, then added veg stock rather than water. I would have added a slosh of Sherry or white wine, but I was out of both...

bikerbell

We really liked this. I halved the recipe for 2 of us. Took quite a while to ensure that the fat was rendered down but better than having a greasy finished dish. I added smoked bacon with the carrots. Also used a bit more water as I thought it might be quite dry. When I uncovered it for the final…

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