Duck Breast, Skin Off, Is Leaner Than Chicken. A Catalan Romesco and Crispy-Skin Garnish Build a 48-Gram-Protein Spanish Dinner.

A 35-minute Spanish plate that takes Catalonia's fishermen's romesco and pairs it with the bird everyone assumes is too fatty: skinless duck breast seared pink (USDA data shows it has less fat and fewer calories per ounce than skinless chicken breast), its skin rendered separately into shatter-crisp crackling, laid over white beans and wilted escarole with a smoky romesco of roasted red peppers, toasted almonds, sherry vinegar, and pimentón. Forty-eight grams of protein and nine grams of fiber for about 510 calories, and it eats like a Barcelona lunch counter, not a diet plate.

Duck has a fat problem that is mostly skin. Strip the skin off a boneless duck breast and the USDA says the cooked meat carries 140 calories, 27.6 grams of protein, and just 2.5 grams of fat per 100 grams (myfooddata, FDC 171511). The same database lists skinless roasted chicken breast at roughly 165 calories and 3.6 grams of fat per 100 grams. Duck is the leaner bird, and almost nobody knows it. The reputation comes from the thick layer of subcutaneous fat that insulates a waterfowl for long flights, which is delicious but expensive in calories.

The solution is not to throw the skin away. It is to separate it from the breast, render it slowly in a cold pan until it turns to shatter-crisp crackling, pour off the fat (save it in a jar for the best roasted potatoes you will ever make), and use the crackling as a garnish. You get the texture and the duck flavor of crispy skin for a fraction of the fat, and the lean breast sears in minutes. Serious Eats' cold-pan render method walks through the technique for skin-on breasts. The adaptation here is stripping the skin first so the breast cooks like a steak and the skin cooks like bacon.

The sauce is romesco, the Catalan condiment that fishermen in Tarragona's Serrallo neighborhood built from what they had on their boats: dried bread, a handful of almonds or hazelnuts, dried peppers, garlic, olive oil, and vinegar. The word traces to the Mozarabic "remesclar," to mix, and the first published recipe appeared in Ángel Muro's El Practicón in 1894 (Tarragona Romesco). What started as a fisherman's stew became the cold sauce that now shows up on everything from grilled fish to calçots to, here, seared duck. The version below is a weeknight shortcut: jarred roasted red peppers instead of roasting your own, smoked paprika (pimentón de la Vera) instead of hunting for dried ñora peppers, and a food processor instead of a mortar. It is adapted from Urban Farmie's Catalan romesco, which roasts the peppers from scratch and is worth the hour if you have it.

Macros per serving (with crispy skin garnish): ~510 calories, 48g protein, 28g carbs, 23g fat, 9g fiber. (Macros computed from USDA FoodData Central and ingredient nutrition data. The math is mine.)

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the duck:

2 boneless duck breasts, skin on, about 8 oz each (225g each)
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp neutral cooking oil

For the quick romesco:

1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers, drained well
2 tbsp raw almonds
1/2 slice country bread or baguette, torn (about 1/2 oz / 15g)
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 tsp smoked paprika (pimentón de la Vera)
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt

For the beans and greens:

1 cup canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups escarole or spinach, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp reserved duck fat (from rendering the skin) or olive oil
Kosher salt, black pepper

Steps

Separate the skin. Using a sharp knife, slide the blade between the skin and meat of each duck breast, peeling the skin off in one piece. Season the skinless breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Score the skin in a shallow crosshatch pattern with a sharp knife, cutting through the skin but not into the meat.
Render the skin into crackling. Place the duck skin fat-side down in a cold, dry skillet. Turn the heat to medium-low and let the fat render slowly, 8 to 10 minutes, pouring off the pooled fat into a jar every few minutes (save it). When the skin is deep golden and shatter-crisp, transfer to a cutting board. It will crisp further as it cools. Break into shards.
Make the romesco. While the skin renders, toast the almonds in a separate dry skillet over medium heat, shaking often, 3 to 4 minutes until golden. In a food processor or blender, combine the drained roasted red peppers, toasted almonds, torn bread, sherry vinegar, smoked paprika, garlic, and salt. Pulse to a coarse paste. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil. The sauce should be thick, spoonable, and deep red-orange. Taste and adjust salt or vinegar.
Sear the duck. Heat 1 tsp oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the skinless duck breasts 3 to 4 minutes per side until the internal temperature reaches 130 degrees F for medium-rare. Duck is best served pink, like steak. Transfer to a cutting board and rest 5 minutes.
Warm the beans and greens. In the same pan, add 1 tsp reserved duck fat (or olive oil) and the minced garlic. Sizzle 30 seconds. Add the cannellini beans and warm through, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the escarole and toss until just wilted, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
Plate. Slice the duck breasts against the grain into 1/4-inch slices. Divide the beans and greens between two plates. Lay the duck slices on top. Spoon the romesco around and over. Crown with crispy skin shards.

Make it better. The move that makes this plate work is separating the skin from the breast before cooking. Most recipes sear the breast skin-on, which leaves a thick fat layer that blows the calorie budget. By stripping the skin and rendering it on its own, you get shatter-crisp crackling (the best part of duck) for a fraction of the fat, and the lean breast sears in minutes. Save the rendered duck fat in a jar in the fridge. It is the best cooking fat you will ever have for potatoes, eggs, or greens.

Batch prep. The romesco keeps 5 days in the fridge and tastes better the next day. Make a double batch and use it on grilled fish, roasted vegetables, eggs, or toast. The crispy skin keeps 2 days in an airtight container. Re-crisp in a hot oven for 2 minutes.