Serves 4-6.
- Prep time: 20min
- Cook time: 2h 20min
- Total time: 2h 40min
- Difficulty: Intermediate
This ragu, like most slow-cooked meat dishes, is hearty and flavorful. It’s even better the next day, so keep the leftovers in the fridge and reheat them. It’s also delicious with polenta. Once the rabbit is tender, remove the pieces from the sauce, pull the meat from the bones, and return to the sauce for another presentation.
Ingredients:
- 1 rabbit, cut into 8 pieces
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 100g flour
- 100ml olive oil
- 40g pancetta, diced
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 leek, halfed and thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot, finely chopped
- 100ml red wine
- 600g canned whole tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 rosemary sprig
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- pinch of chili flakes
- 400ml chicken stock
- pappardele pasta, to serve
- grated Parmesan cheese, to serve
Directions:
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan. Season the rabbit with salt and pepper, then roll it in flour and shake off the excess. Cook the rabbit pieces in the pan on high heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Place the rabbit on a plate and set it aside.
Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the rest of the olive oil. Fry the pancetta until it is crispy. Cook until the onions, leeks, and carrots are caramelized, stirring occasionally. This will take approximately 40 minutes. Because the vegetables are the foundation of the sauce, they must be caramelized slowly. When the vegetables have caramelized, add the red wine and cook until the alcohol has evaporated. Cook for 10 minutes after adding the garlic, tomatoes, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, chili flakes, dried thyme, and oregano. Return the rabbit pieces to the pan, pour in the chicken stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low heat, cover, and cook until the rabbit is tender, about 1 hour. Adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper to taste. Garnish the ragu with grated Parmesan cheese and serve over pappardelle pasta.
Commentary.
Also known as Ragu Od Kunića.
Easter has come and gone. I dyed some eggs, made Pinca, and ate until I was sick, vowing never to eat again. I made myself a sandwich half an hour later, citing the fact that I had leftover eggs. Can we really afford to throw food away? Oh, I adore holidays.
I, too, enjoy having leftovers. I occasionally cook more food than we can eat in order to have leftovers the next day. That’s what I meant.
You may think I’m crazy, but there are some dishes that benefit from a night in the fridge. Slow cooked or braised meat in a sauce is unquestionably in this category. It’s almost as if the meat requires the extra 12 hours to soak up the sauce’s flavor and become even more succulent and juicy.
One of those dishes is this rabbit ragu. It was so delicious the day I made it that I didn’t think it could get any better. Oh, how wrong I was. The flavors were out of this world the next day when we had it with polenta. This was without a doubt the best ragu I’ve ever had.
