Ingredients

Serves: 4

Prep: 20min
Cook: 60min

1 large onion
3 large garlic cloves
4tbsp olive oil
100g rindless smoked streaky bacon
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp chopped thyme
1tsp chopped sage
4 meaty pork sausages
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 chicken-stock cube dissolved in 500ml hot water
4 skinless Gressingham duck breast fillets
2 x 400g can cannellini or similar white beans
2tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
2-pack garlic bread

Method

Peel, halve and finely slice the onion. Peel and slice 2 garlic cloves in thin rounds. Heat 2tbsp olive oil in a large and heavy-bottomed, lidded pan until very hot. Stir in the onions. Cook, stirring often, for four minutes until wilted. Add 1tsp salt, reduce the heat to low, stir in the sliced garlic, cover the pan and leave to cook for ten minutes.

Slice the bacon across the rashers and add to the pan with the bay leaf, thyme and sage. Increase the heat slightly and cook briskly, stirring often, until the bacon is crisp. Meanwhile, heat 1tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and quickly brown the sausages.

Add the tomatoes to the onions, add the sausages and stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to establish a steady simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes, so that the sausages poach and the liquid thickens.

Cut the duck breasts into four large pieces per portion. Wipe out the frying pan, add the remaining 2tbsp oil and brown the duck in batches.

Add duck and juices to the pan. Tip the beans into a colander, rinse with water, shake dry and add them too. Simmer gently. Chop the parsley and remaining peeled garlic. Chop the two together then stir half the mixture into the stew. Cover and cook for 30 minutes.

Taste, adjust the seasoning and stir in the remaining parsley/garlic before serving with hot, crusty garlic bread.

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