Rabbit Casserole

We’ve only cooked rabbit once before because we find it so difficult to track down in the shops; last time we managed to find a tame rabbit in Selfridges Food Hall and it’s probably the most expensive piece of meat we’ve ever cooked. Imagine my delight when my mum told me she’d found someone locally who was going to deliver two rabbits to her on Saturday morning for the princely sum of £2!

We opted to casserole the jointed rabbit and then use the leftovers to make a pasta sauce. On the advice of the rabbit man, we started off by soaking the rabbit overnight in vinegar – this apparently improves both the colour and texture. After rinsing off the vinegar this morning we got to work on the casserole:

One rabbit, jointed
Flour (for seasoning)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
One carrot, cubed
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 glass white wine
1 litre chicken stock
6 stalks thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper

Coat the rabbit pieces in seasoned flour and brown then remove from the pan.
Sautee the onion, celery, carrot and garlic until soft, then remove from the pan.
Deglaze the pan with the wine, then return the rabbit and vegetables.
Add chicken stock, thyme, bay and seasoning and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and then simmer for an hour.

The flavour of the meat was wonderful: rich and earthy and perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the onion and carrot. We served the casserole with mashed potatoes and buttery cabbage. There was plenty of meat for a generous serving each with some leftover for tomorrow.