Rabbit cacciatore
'Cacciatore' means hunter in Italian and, although we now think of it as a chicken dish, it is a particularly good way to cook rabbit
Braised rabbit pappardelle
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- More effort
- Serves 5
Skip to ingredients
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 wild rabbit, jointed (ask your butcher to do this for you)
- 4 rashers smoked streaky bacon, chopped
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 150ml white or rosé wine
- 500ml chicken stock
- 500g pappardelle pasta
- zest ½ orange
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 100ml double cream
- small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped, plus a few leaves picked to serve
- grated parmesan, to serve
Method
- STEP 1
Heat the oil in a large pan. When hot, add the rabbit, brown on all sides, then remove from the pan and set aside.
- STEP 2
Add the bacon, onion and carrot to the pan and cook for 10 mins until soft. Add the garlic, rosemary and tomato purée, stir for 1-2 mins, then pour in the wine and chicken stock.
- STEP 3
Return the rabbit to the pan, season, cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for 1 hr until the rabbit is really tender.
- STEP 4
Remove the rabbit from the pan and shred the meat using 2 forks. Be careful to remove all small bones. Meanwhile, increase the heat under the pan and boil the liquid for 5 mins until reduced by half. Add the shredded meat and reduce the heat to low. Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted water following pack instructions. Drain, reserving a little pasta water to thin the sauce if necessary.
- STEP 5
Stir half the orange zest, mustard, cream and parsley into the rabbit sauce. Add the cooked pasta to the pan, toss everything well to coat and heat through for 1-2 mins. Serve in bowls with grated Parmesan, parsley leaves and the remaining orange zest.
