Sweetly spiced rabbit pilaf recipe | Good Food

Sweetly spiced rabbit pilaf

For the pilaf

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions
thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves
sliced
meat from legs and loins of 2 wild rabbits
cut into bite-sized chunks
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp cumin seeds
½ tsp chilli powder or hot paprika
plus a sprinkle
250g long-grain rice
well rinsed
350g butternut squash
peeled and sliced into half-moons
85g pitted prunes
400ml chicken stock

To serve

handful mint
(or coriander, or dill)
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
or toasted flaked almonds
low-fat Greek yogurt
pomegranate molasses or lemon juice

Method

step 1
Melt the butter and oil in a wide, lidded pan, and add the onions and garlic. Soften gently for 5 mins, then tip in the rabbit and cook for 5 mins more, stirring until it changes colour all over (it doesn’t need to be particularly browned). Turn up the heat a little, add the spices and fry for 2 mins until aromatic. Lift out the pieces of loin and set aside.
step 2
Tip in the rice, squash and prunes, cover with the stock and season. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently for 10 mins. Put the loin meat on top of the rice, re-cover and cook for another 5 mins or until you can see channels appearing in the surface of the rice and most or all of the liquid has disappeared. Remove from the heat and set aside for 10 mins.
step 3
Fluff up the tender rice with a fork, check the seasoning and scatter with the fresh herbs and the nuts. Serve each portion with a blob of yogurt topped with a sprinkling of chilli or paprika, plus a drizzle of tangy pomegranate molasses or lemon juice.