If there’s a single ingredient that deserves to be better known, it’s feuilles de brick, the North African pancake/wrapper.
More delicate than filo, crispier than wonton wrappers, it’s been extensively used by French chefs for 30 years. It’s a great topping for a pot pie-type dish (in fact, it is often used in the Moroccan pastilla) and its texture, which is as crispy as a potato chip when fried, makes it perfect for deep frying.
At Spuntino, I use feuilles de brick to make a duck crespelle, my version of a crispy Italian stuffed pancake, which I serve with an apricot mostardo, a sharp mustard mellowed with dried apricots.
I use duck confit for the filling, including the crispy skin and a mixture of spring vegetables: leeks, carrots, fennel and a little napa cabbage.
Note: Feuilles de brick can be purchased at Middle Eastern groceries.
Duck Crespelle with Spring Vegetables
Serves 4.
Ingredients
3 teaspoons olive oil
2 legs duck confit
1 cup julienned leeks
1 cup julienned fennel
Salt and pepper
1 cup julienned carrots
2 cups julienned napa cabbage
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 sheets feuilles de brick
Egg wash
Neutral oil for deep frying
Directions
In a nonstick pan, heat a teaspoon of the olive oil over medium heat and brown the duck legs on the skin side. When cool, finely shred the meat and skin and place in a bowl. Set aside.
Add the remaining 2 teaspoons oil to the same pan. Saute the leeks and fennel for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the carrots and cook for 3 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Deglaze the mixture with the sherry vinegar. Set aside.
Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle and whip for 1 minute on medium speed. Add the duck meat and whip 1 more minute. Add the vegetable mixture and whip 30 seconds. Taste for seasoning. (The recipe can be made a day ahead at this point.)
Brush 4 sheets of the pastry with the egg wash. Place some of the mixture in the middle, leaving an inch on either side. Roll up the pastry like a burrito. Fold the sides in 1 inch on either side and roll up tightly like a cigar. Refrigerate the cres-pelle until ready to use.
Heat the oil in a heavy pot or deep fryer to 325 degrees. Carefully drop the crespelle and cook until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. Remove to a paper towel and serve immediately.
