Braised Wild Rabbit With Salami, Cavolo Nero And Olives

To celebrate the arrival of autumn, I made a very delicious wild rabbit stew using a recipe from The Italian Cookbook Collector's Edition by Gourmet Traveller. I managed to find some cavolo nero (Italian black cabbage which is rather similar to kailan or Chinese kale) without having to go through too much hassle. It is dead easy to prepare and a perfect meal for a chilly autumn night. Wild rabbits might look cute and cuddly but they are a real pest down under so do your share too by trying this recipe very soon. If you are still not convinced, I think chicken thighs would make a wonderful substitute. 

It is time to go home and check on my dinner and I will try to fit in another post over the weekend, if not come back on Monday for the 8th roundup of Muhibbah Malaysian Monday!

recipe adapted from The Italian Cookbook Collector's Edition by Gourmet Traveller
serves 2 to 3 as a one dish meal
you'll need;
1 wild rabbit, jointed
seasoned plain flour for dusting
good olive oil
150 g of mild salami, sliced thickly widthwise
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
125 ml of dry white wine
1.5 cups of chicken stock
2 tomatoes, blanched, peeled and coarsely chopped
50 g of taggiasca olive
2 rosemary sprigs
half a bunch of cavolo nero

Prepare the onion, garlic and salami.

Prepare the rabbit and tomatoes.

Dust rabbit pieces with seasoned flour and brown in batches with a little olive oil in a casserole. 

Add a little more olive oil to the same casserole and saute the onion, gralic and salami slices until golden. Deglaze with wine, return rabbit pieces to the pot and add stock, chopped tomato, olives and rosemary. Simmer with lid on for 1.5 hours until rabbit is very tender. Add cavolo nero and cook til wilted, check for seasonings. (I forgot to take photo for the final stage of cooking :()

Make sure you have some crusty bread to mop up the delicious sauce.

Pappardelle With Wild Rabbit Ragu

As the days are getting shorter and colder, there is no denying that autumn has truly arrived. I can't think of a better dish to welcome the cooler months ahead than a tasty slow cooked ragu with pappardelle. This is roughly based on Antonio Carluccio's veal ragu which I saw on television a while back. Like all good braised dishes this will taste even better the next day. Speaking of tasting better the next day I was eating the leftover while watching Italian food Safari , how appropriate! 

P.S try this with veal, duck or pork neck if you are not comfortable dealing with a bunny! Together with goats and camels the adorable rabbits are creating havoc to the fragile ecosystem in Australia, so it is our duty to help eradicate them by eating them one by one :)

recipe for ragu serves 6

you'll need;

1 wild rabbit, cleaned and cut into 3 pieces

2 carrots, peeled and diced

4 celery stalks, diced

1 large onion, chopped

200 g of pancetta, diced (optional)

8 garlic cloves

rosemary, chopped

sage, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 bottle (750ml) passata

1 cup of red wine

chicken stock

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

chopped parsley

grated parmesan 

pappardelle or any wide pasta, cooked according to the packaging

Prepare the ingredients.

Fry pancetta with some oilve oil if using til lightly brown then add the vegetables and saute til vegetables are soften. Add rabbit pieces and fry in the mixture for a few minutes.

Pour passata and red wine into the pot together with the herbs, let everything simmer for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, the meat should be falling off the bones.

Flake the meat off the bones using 2 forks.

Return the rabbit meat into the pot and mix well, add a little stock if the mixture is too dry, check for seasonings.

Ladle some ragu over the pappardelle, top with some chopped parsley and drizzle with some extra olive oil. Don't forget the parmesan.