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Rabbit and Leek Pie
Posted By Kerri
Apparently, this week is British Pie Week. I don’t usually pay much attention to this kind of thing but, stuck for something to eat tonight, it was a welcome suggestion. I had it all worked out and had researched my recipe idea thoroughly but, when I got to the shop, they didn’t have the ingredients I needed. I find my mind tends to go blank in these situations and I end up wandering around aimlessly, I managed to avoid this today though when I spotted some some rabbit.
We’ve cooked with rabbit a couple of times and had mixed resutls, the rabbit pappardelle was one of my favourites of my last year though and it definitely benefitted from a long, slow cooking. Perfect for pie filling then!
I cooked the rabbit in a pretty similar way to chicken casserole, with just a few tweaks, and then let the filling reduce right down before adding it to the pie dish and topping it with puff pastry. It turned out brilliantly: the meat was tender and moist and the tangy mustard leant itself well to the sweetness of the rabbit and sherry. Served with more mustard in the shape of mustardy mashed potatoes and some crunchy, green cabbage.
Ingredients:
Flour
Salt and pepper
1 rabbit, boned and diced
125g lardons
2 leeks, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
125ml sherry
Heaped tablespoon Dijon mustard
250ml chicken stock
20 thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
Pastry (I cheated and used ready-rolled)
black onion seeds (optional)
Start by tossing the rabbit pieces in the seasoned flour and then browning in batches. Remove browned rabbit to a plate and set aside.
In the same pan, fry off the lardons until the fat has rendered and add to the browned rabbit.
Next, soften the leek, carrot and celery for about 10 minutes. Then add the garlic and cook for a further two minutes.
Add the rabbit and lardons back to the pan, deglaze with the sherry and then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 2 hours (longer if you have time).
Once the rabbit has cooked through, the sauce should have reduced to a thick, syrupy liquid. If it hasn’t then turn up the heat and allow the liquid to bubble until it has thickened.
Add the contents of the saucepan to your pie dish, top with the pastry, brush with an egg (and sprinkle with the onion seeds if using) and then cook until the pastry has browned (about 25 minutes).
Serve!
Mar 3rd, 2009
Rabbit pie is such a great dish. This sounds a delicious version – rabbit goes so well with mustard. Lovely pix too.
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Rabbit and leek pie sounds so good! I love rabbit but have never made it at home.
Jillian’s last blog post..Daring Bakers: Chocolate Valentino and Pomegranate Ice Cream
Oh yes, I have been wanting to try making a pie!
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that looks really delicious, have never cooked rabbit before just been on receiving end but am thinking of buying some in…think this could be dish no1!
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There’s been a lot of rabbit in the blogosphere recently, great minds think alike! Great pictures. I really must invest in one of those pie thingymajigs, as my pastry tend to sink in the middle a lot.
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Kerri didn’t mention in the recipe the black onion seeds that she sprinkled on top of the pie (am editing it now…). It gave it a subtle spiciness which went well with the filling and made the crust taste a little like naan bread by association.
This pie looks delicious. I particularly love the little pie bird though. So kitsch but cute!
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I love the look of the black onion seeds and I generally love rabbit pie. I made it myself recently but the camera klonked out.
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It always amuses me to think of rabbit pie. I’m not sure why. I think it’s a Peter Rabbit kind of thing. I have had rabbit several times and I’ve never been wowed by it- I prefer hare’s more gamey flavour- but this looks fabulous. I will definitely try this if I can get my hands on some rabbit.
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I often forget to use the pie funnel but it really does work, particularly as our pie dish is huge and there’s usually not enough filling.
The onion seeds were a bit of an afterthought really, I think they look pretty but I don’t think they added too much flavour.
I know what you mean about Peter Rabbit actually! I’ve not had hare before, not sure if I’ve even seen it in the shops. I’ll look out for it though.
I made this pie a couple of days ago. I followed the recipe pretty closely (unusual for me). Tonight we shared it with my son and his girlfriend … there were no leftovers! A little steamed asparagus on the side was perfect. I will make this again … it is one damn fine pie!
Thanks, Paul. I’m glad you all enjoyed it. I think there’s a fair amount of room for tweaking in that recipe, there’s no fun in following things exactly is there?!