Portuguese baked duck rice (Arroz de pato)

1. Put the duck legs in a large pot with the peeled, halved onions, carrot, bay leaves and salt, cover with the water, bring to the boil, skim off the foam and simmer for 1 hour 15 minutes until the meat is tender.

2. Lift out the legs, strain the stock and skim off most of the fat; pull the meat off the skin and bones and tear into large pieces (discard the skin or chop it finely and add it to the meat).

3. In a wide pan, fry the diced bacon in the olive oil for 3 minutes, add the rice and stir for 1-2 minutes until translucent.

4. Pour in 1 litre of hot duck stock, scatter in the duck meat and cook over a low heat for 12 minutes until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid but is still a little moist; you can grate a little orange zest over it too.

5. Spread it all in a baking dish, cover the top closely with thin slices of chouriço and bake at 200 °C for 15-20 minutes until the top is crisp and the sausage lightly browned.

6. Rest for a few minutes and serve with orange segments and a fresh salad.

Tip: This is the classic Sunday lunch of the north; the crisp top layer is the real treasure, so choose a dish in which the rice is no more than 4 cm deep – that way there's more crispy surface.