Rabbit Ragu Recipe

Servings: 4-6

In Italy dishes made with rabbit are commonly found, and growing up, everytime time there was going to be a white ragu for dinner, a ragu not made with beef, it was made from chicken or rabbit, but most often with rabbit. Sage, thyme, rosemary and Juniper berries is the flavor combo I use frequently in slow cooked dishes like this ragu. I toss this ragu with a pasta shape called Mafalde which is a wide flat ribbon- shaped pasta. It has rippled edges that look like the edges of lasagna noodles, but you can use any long or short pasta.

Recipe featured on Rachael Ray in Tuscany.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons EVOO
2 small carrot, peeled and fine chop
1 celery, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 ½ pounds of finely chopped rabbit or coarsely ground or hand chopped deboned chicken
Sage, thyme and rosemary, tied together into a small bundle
4 Juniper berries
1 cup white wine
3 cups chicken stock or bone broth
½ cup cream, optional
1 pound (500 g) Mafalde pasta
Freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and Pecorino cheese mixed together
Fat handful of parsley, finely chopped

Directions

Heat a Dutch oven over medium to medium-high heat. Add carrot, celery, onion and season with salt and pepper, soften 5-6 minutes, add garlic and stir for a minute. Add rabbit (or chicken) and season with salt and pepper and cook to lightly brown.

Add in the herb bundle and juniper berries. Add wine and let evaporate into sauce. Add stock and let simmer at low boil for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Finish with cream, optional.

Cook pasta 1 minute less than package directions in salted water. Drain pasta and reserve 1 cup of salty cooking water.

Combine pasta with ragu, pasta water as needed and cheese. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with chopped parsley.