Rabbit Pasta

This was excellent! Highly recommend this recipe – you could probably adapt it with chicken thighs, but rabbit makes it a little extra special (and is pretty affordable, too). We got a little macabre this year and made rabbit for Easter dinner, alongside roast chicken and some other goodies.

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 wild rabbit, jointed (ask your butcher to do this for you)
• 4 rashers smoked streaky bacon (I used like six slices center cut)
• 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 (I used tomato paste)
• about 2/3 cup rose wine
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 pounds fresh tagliatelle pasta
• zest ½ orange
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• about 1/2 cup heavy cream
• small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped, plus a few leaves picked to serve (I didn’t have any, so added a bit of chopped sage)
• grated parmesan, to serve

Heat the oil in a large pan. When hot, add the rabbit, brown on all sides, then remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the bacon and cook until some fat is rendered, but it isn’t crispy yet. Add onion and carrot to the pan and cook for 10 mins until soft. Add the garlic, rosemary and tomato, stir for 1-2 mins, then pour in the wine and chicken stock.

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 (I did about 75 minutes).

Remove the rabbit from the pan, allow to cool, 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.

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.