Chef Masterclass: Tegan Kocijan’s Tagliatelle with Winter Vegetables and Duck Leg Ragu -

Rosetta Ristorante Head Chef Tegan Kocijan has worked his entire qualified career as a Chef at Hunter St. Hospitality (formerly Rockpool Dining Group).

After completing his apprenticeship at Bluestone on Flinders Lane in Melbourne he worked at Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney for two and a half years, before joining Rosetta in February 2017 as a Chef de Partie.

Tegan was promoted to Head Chef in May 2021.
Born and raised in Melbourne and with a Croatian father, Tegan grew up with a curiosity for Mediterranean culture and cuisine.
At the age of 28, he swapped a corporate, 9am to 5pm career as a as a Development Officer at a water utility company to become a Chef. “I’ve never looked back,” he says.

As a vegetarian, Tegan says his favourite dish to eat on the Rosetta menu is stuffed, roasted pepper with Arrabiatta and parsley oil.

“But if I were to recommend a dish to a friend, I would tell them you can’t go past our duck ragu pasta. It’s just so perfect and warming on a cold winter’s night.”

I believe it’s very important to be in touch with your food, to have some understanding of what goes into it as well as the work involved. The first time I made pasta at home (long before I became a professional Chef) it gave me such an appreciation for the product.

It taught me that a little extra effort can not only elevate the dish to somewhere store-bought pasta cannot, but make it taste better purely for the fact that you know you’ve made it yourself!

And there is something so wonderful about making homemade pasta. It’s super fun to make together with a partner, friends or family (or on your own), and it only requires two basic ingredients.

Tegan shares his recipe for Tagliatelle with Winter Vegetable and Duck Leg Ragu with us.

Ingredients

Tagliatelle Pasta

1kg “00” flour
10 organic, free range eggs

Duck Ragu

2kg duck legs, or Marylands, slightly salted
2tbsp olive oil
1 large brown onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 parsnip, diced
½ medium sized celeriac, diced
6-8 garlic cloves, finely diced
200ml red wine
280g tomato paste
400g crushed tomatoes (tinned is fine)
600ml chicken stock
2 bay leaves
4 whole sprigs of thyme
Salt and pepper for seasoning
1tbsp of butter
A handful roughly chopped parsley for garnish

Method

Tagliatelle Pasta

Place the flour on a board or in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. Beat the eggs with a fork until smooth.
Using the tips of your fingers, mix the eggs with the flour, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined.
Knead the pieces of dough together – with a bit of work and some love and attention they’ll all bind together to give you one big, smooth lump of dough!
Once you’ve made your dough, knead and work it with your hands to develop the gluten in the flour, otherwise your pasta will be flabby and soft when you cook it, instead of springy and al dente. There’s no set method for this. You can bash, mash, stretch, knead, punch, pull and fold any way you like as long as you’re working it. You’ll know when to stop – it’s when your pasta starts to feel smooth and silky instead of rough and floury.
**You may find that your dough is a little on the dry and crumbly side, persevere, it will come together more as the eggs work into it. If absolutely needs be you can add a fraction of water. I’ve found that a spray bottle is a great way to add water to pasta dough without adding too much.
Thoroughly wrap the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.
Follow the directions of your rolling machine and roll sections of the dough out to a medium thickness (usually at a setting of ‘4’ on most machines).
Your pasta sheets may be quite long at this stage. Cut the sheets into approx. 40cm lengths. Then fold each sheet over gently a few times to make them more manageable to cut. Using a long, sharp knife, cut the pasta into 6mm wide strips. Unfold the pasta and dust it slightly with some extra flour, then keep aside until ready to cook.

Duck Ragu

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
On the stovetop, in a heavy based pot or casserole dish (make sure you choose one with a lid) heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and brown the duck legs on all sides in batches. Once browned, set aside.
In the same pot, sauté the brown onion, carrots, parsnip and celeriac over medium heat. Stir frequently to make sure the vegetables do not burn. Add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring to ensure the garlic does not burn.
Deglaze the pan with red wine, scrapping up all those delicious, caramelised bits of duck and vegetables) and after the alcohol is cooked off (the liquid would have reduced by about half), add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, bay leaves and thyme. Bring to the boil and cook for a few minutes.
Carefully add the duck legs back to the pot, bring to a simmer, then transfer to the oven, cover and cook for 1-1.5 hours, or until you can easily pull the bones out of the legs. Take out of the oven and put aside to slightly cool.
Carefully remove the duck legs from the ragu. Strip the meat from the bones and add the meat back into the ragu. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
Place the ragu back on the stove and continue to cook, uncovered until the sauce thickens to your liking.
Adjust the seasoning with salt and a good crack of pepper and finish the sauce by mixing in the butter.
Cook the pasta in salted water (the bigger the pot the better). The amount of salt you put in the water will vary based on the size of your pot. I like to taste the water once the salt is dissolved to determine the right amount – the water should taste close to sea water saltiness.
You will find that homemade pasta will cook much quicker than store bought, dried pasta – a couple of minutes is all you will need for perfect al dente pasta.
Drain the pasta, reserving some of the water in case you need more liquid in the ragu. Add the drained pasta to the ragu and mix well.
Plate up and garnish with parsley and some shavings of Reggiano or Grana Padano parmesan.