Braised rabbit pappardelle with tomatoes & leek

Braised rabbit pappardelle with tomatoes & leek

Serves 4

 

Legs and shoulders of 2 rabbits (brined if possible)

4 large heritage tomatoes, cubed

1 leek, sliced

2 onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 celery sticks, chopped

3 sprigs thyme

A few bay leaves

½ bottle of white wine

1L rabbit stock, or chicken stock

1 ham, boar or pork hock bone

250g fresh pappardelle pasta

A few peppercorns

100g good-quality Parmesan

1 knob unsalted butter

1T capers

Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped.

 

Braise

 

Preheat the oven to 160ºC.

Add a little fat to a heavy-based casserole on a medium heat, brown the meat on both sides and transfer the legs to a plate. Add a little more fat to the same pan, then add tomatoes and the leek. Sweat until the leek softens, then set aside and sweat the onion, garlic, celery, thyme and bay leaves. Deglaze the casserole with a splash of white wine, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all the caramelised bits.

Add the legs back to the casserole. Add the remaining wine, stock and hock bone, cover and place in the oven. Cook for about 3 hours until the meat easily falls away from the bone.

Remove the legs from the casserole and set aside. Reduce the liquid if it’s too watery – it should be thick enough to coat a spoon. When the meat has cooled enough to handle, remove it from the bones. Discard the bones and the hock. Shred the meat using your hands, then return it to the thickened cooking liquid.

Pasta

 

Boil a big pot of salted water. Add the pasta, gently stirring the water to ensure the pasta doesn’t stick to itself or the pot. Fresh pasta made that day tends to be cooked in about 20 to 30 seconds. Day-old pasta takes closer to a minute. To test, remove a piece from the water and bite the pasta. It should be soft, but have a faint white line in the middle showing that it isn't quite cooked through.

 

Remove the pasta from the water and add it to the sauce. Add a knob of butter, grate some parmesan and continually toss the pan over a low heat for 1 minute.

 

To serve

 

Serve in a big bowl. Finish with capers, freshly cut Italian parsley and more grated Parmesan.