I have been blessed with my whole family, but my husband’s side especially, meat wise that is. There is an uncle who hunts and provides us with venison, moose, and wild boar, and a grandmother who is raising rabbits for meat. So I often get my hands on high-quality meats in exchange for good company. I made this white wine rabbit ragu just after Christmas and it was divine. It was fantastic the next day and even better at midnight while eating straight out of the pot with a spoon.
Rabbit meat is similar to chicken in structure but the taste is not quite it. If you are wondering what rabbit tastes like? – it does taste a lot like chicken, but gamier, it has a deeper meaty flavor. The best rabbit meat will certainly come from a good producer/farmer. Just like with any other meat, the animal has to be fed and had the opportunity to roam in order for it to taste good. This white wine rabbit ragu is a true testament to good meat.
Ingredients
In order to make this take on Italian rabbit stew, you will need a couple of ingredients.
- Whole rabbit cut into pieces, learn “how to” here – [link]
- Bacon to render the fat and cook the meat in
- Carrots, celery, and shallots for the mirepoix
- Garlic
- Tomato paste
- Some mustard and honey for that extra flavor
- Salt and pepper
- White wine to make it a true ragu
- Chicken stock, store-bought is fine, but I used homemade
- Butter and flour to make a roux
- Bunch of fresh thyme, dried would work fine too, but I just happened to have some growing on the windowsill
To make and read the recipe, view the recipe card.
Instructions
You might be wondering how to make ragu? It is one of my favorite meals to cook using beef, pork, and game meat. This rabbit ragu is not too difficult to master but certainly worthy a fancy dinner. But hey, this year, every dinner deserves to be fancy!
The first thing you have to do is cook the bacon in order to render some fat, this is what you will mostly use to make the roux. Since I can’t really handle fat meats like this, I used some pretty lean bacon and added some butter to the roux but you can use anything as fatty as guanciale. After the bacon is removed you don’t even have to use it in the ragu, but that sure seems like a waste to not eat it. This baked rabbit is seared in the pot in the bacon fat and then veggies are added and it all becomes something beautiful.
After all the meats and veggies have been braising in wine and stock for 1 hour, the meat will fall off the bones. And that is what you will do, remove all the pieces of rabbit from the pot, remove it from the bones, shred and put it back in the sauce. Heat a little bit more and it is ready for serving. For the ultimate comfort food I chose to serve it with pasta, so it seems close to traditional Italian food.
Variations
More earthy – use red wine instead for a slightly different result in taste
Spicy – add some Calabrian chili paste or red pepper flakes when searing the rabbit to give the meat extra spice
Switch up the side dish – you could serve this with mashed potatoes, polenta, or even wild rice. I have tried 2 of these and they were both beautiful
Cooking and eating rabbits maybe a little change from every day since it is pretty accessible even in grocery stores. Rabbit meat nutrition facts are evidence that it is a great alternative for everyday meats. But as usual, keep track of where it has come from.
White wine rabbit ragu
Ingredients
- 1 rabbit
- 150 g bacon
- 2 carrots
- 3 stalks of celery
- 2 shallots
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 300 ml white wine
- 300 ml chicken stock
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- Bunch of fresh thyme
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven on low heat bake the bacon until the fat has rendered, about 5 minutes, remove from the pot
- Sprinkle the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper from both sides
- Add the rabbit to the pan and bake each piece for 5-7 minutes from both sides, remove from the pot
- Add the butter to the pot and the mirepoix and cook stirring for 3 minutes, add in the garlic and cook for 1 more minute
- Add in the flour and cook while stirring for 1 minute
- Add the wine and the chicken stock, tomato paste, honey, mustard, and cook for 2 minutes
- Add back in the rabbit, bacon, and thyme and put the lid on
- Cook on medium-low for 1 hour
- Remove the meat from the pot, remove it from the bones and shred, put it back in
- Boil any pasta of our choice and reserve 200 ml of pasta water
- Add the pasta water to the sauce and heat until the first bubble
- Serve everything with grated Parmigiano, crusty bread, and fresh thyme
Notes
If you are feeling like pasta is what you are craving, try these recipes too:
