Day 34 - Rabbit Ragu

For this recipe I decided to try something new - I love Rabbit but I've never cooked it before. A lot of people turned their noses up when I told them I was cooking rabbit, obviously some people keep rabbits as pets, and I am no different, I had a pet rabbit when I was younger. Rabbit is a fabulous meat though, it's the most free range you can get, very lean and healthy!

RABBIT RAGU

Serves: 2-3 People

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cooking Time: 1 Hour 55 Minutes

1 Whole Rabbit
2 Large Onion
6 Carrots
6 Celery Sticks
4-5 Peppercorns
2 Rashers of Smoked Bacon
400g of Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
400ml of Vegetable Stock
200g of Linguine Pasta
2 tbsp of Fresh Grated Parmesan

• First of all I am going to roast the rabbit. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Chop 1 Onion, 3 Carrots and 3 Celery Sticks into quarters and place into a large roasting dish with the peppercorns. Cover the vegetable with a good amount of water and rest the rabbit on top but make sure. (I had the rabbit cut into 6 equal sized pieces at the butchers.) Place into the oven for 30-40 minutes.
• When done, leave to rest for 10-15 minutes then strip the meat from 4 of the 6 pieces of rabbit and put aside. Save the rest of the meat, the bones, vegetable and remaining juices in the dish in the freezer to use for an amazing rabbit soup.
• Meanwhile finely dice the remaining onion, carrots, celery and the bacon, add to a large lidded pan with a teaspoon of oil on a medium heat and cook 5 minutes until softened.
• Add the rabbit to the pan and turn the heat down to a low heat and add the stock and tinned chopped tomatoes. Season to taste and place the lid on. Leave to simmer for approximately an hour, stirring every so often and adding a little water if you feel it's getting dry.
• Cook the linguine according to the packet instructions and serve with the ragu on top and grate over some fresh Parmesan.