Duck Pithivier

Have you always wanted to try your hand at making a Duck Pithivier, the luxurious and elegant French pie named after the town of Pithiviers? This dish is a true showstopper, with its round shape, encased in layers of flaky puff pastry and filled with a duck confit-foie-gras-veggies stuffing. The intricate decorative touches on top make it a visually stunning creation that is perfect for special occasions. A key tip for success in making a Pithivier is to use pie dough for the bottom crust and puff pastry for the top, ensuring a perfect balance of textures and flavors without getting soggy. Whether you prefer a classic, inverted, or quick puff pastry, you can find all the variations and tips you need on my blog. Get ready to impress your guests with this indulgent and flavorful Pithivier creation.

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A luxury savory pie

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Pie Dough

To start, place your room temperature pastry dough between two sheets of parchment paper. The recommended thickness is about 0.20 inches or 5mm. Use a fork to prick the pastry all over. For optimal results, place the rolled-out pastry in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to set. After chilling, it's time to cut out the pastry into the desired shape. In this case, you can cut out a 9.5-inch or 24 cm disk. Be sure to use a sharp knife or pastry cutter to get clean edges. Save leftover pastry for later use.

Duck Confit Meat

Transfer duck cooked confit onto a wire rack to drain. Save duck fat and chill; some gelatinous and flavorful brown duck jus will form at the bottom; save it for the duck sauce. Shred meat off duck confit. Save bones for the sauce. Discard small bones, cartilages and leftover skin. Reserve duck meat for the montage.

Veggies

Mince shallots and garlic. Wash parsley, pat dry and chop. Peel, wash and cut carrots into brunoise, and blanch for a minute. Remove stem from cabbage, and blanch cabbage for 3 minutes, drain and pat it dry. Save large leaves for the pie, and chop some leaves for the stuffing. Clean, trim and chop mushrooms. In a hot pan, sauté mushrooms for 5 minutes with a tablespoon of duck fat. Add shallots, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook for 3 min. Add carrots and parsley, and let cool.

Stuffing

Mix ground pork or veal along with 20% of the duck legs confit meat. Grind meat using the larger hole size meat plate. Season with salt, pepper, Cognac, egg and cream. *Foie gras can be subbed for chicken or duck livers. If so, clean livers, and marinade with drizzle of Cognac. Quickly sauté in hot pan with some duck fat – season with salt and pepper; set aside. For the foie gras, mark with a knife, season with salt and sear 30 seconds on both sides in a very hot pan. Keep the seared foie gras in the freezer until ready to use.

Montage

Grease and line a 7.25-inch/18.5cm diameter bowl with plastic wrap in contact. Alternate layers of meat stuffing, veggies, and duck confit. Place the frozen foie gras in the center, add more veggies, duck confit and seal with more stuffing. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. Meanwhile, roll out puff pastry (500g) into a large 14X14-inch/35cm and 0.17-inch/3mm thick sheet, and refrigerate. Lay pie dough disk onto baking tray lined with a silicon mat, or parchment paper. Moisturize border with water. Flip and de-mold stuffing on crust, and wrap with cabbage greens. Enclose with the puff pastry. Gently press down the dough over the dome chasing air out. Trim off excess dough. Save pastry for later use. Make a small hole (chimney) in the center with a small plain pastry tip. Surround with a small round of puff pastry. Egg wash and place the greased pastry tip back inside the chimney; this allows steam to escape during cooking. Egg wash pithivier and chill for 10 minutes and repeat. Decorate pastry dome with spiral lines drawn from the top outwards with the point of a knife, and scallop the edges. Place pithivier in the refrigerator.

Duck Sauce

Roast duck bones in some duck fat. Add onions, carrots, garlic and cook for 10 minutes. Add tomato paste, herbs and cook for 3 minutes. Add Madeira and reduce to two-third. Add chicken stock and cook on low for an hour. Sieve and add duck jus (saved from the duck confit). Cook on low simmer until it reduces to 400g/1¾ cups. Skim off impurities and excess fat. To thicken the sauce, mix 10g Madera with 10g corn starch, and swirl in duck sauce and cook for 2 min. Lastly, whisk in butter, readjust seasoning to taste. Serve hot.

Baking Pithivier

Preheat fan oven to 400ºF/200ºC. Put pithivier in the oven and immediately lower temperature to 330ºF/160ºC. Cook for 40 minutes. The internal temperature of the pithivier should be at 55ºC/131ºF. Let pithivier rest 20 minutes prior slicing. Serve with the hot duck sauce. Bon appétit!

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