Rabbit Pie - Oh My!

Another hunt, another delivery of meat for me to prepare. Two rabbits this time, slender, lean little morsels. I prepared this dish over a few days, as it required slow cooking reduction, then baking into a pie, but trust me, it was worth the wait. One rabbit would be sufficient for one pie, but now I have another batch of the meat in the freezer for a stress free meal another day. 

Two years ago we were in Holland having Christmas with my dutch relatives, to learn that a traditional meat to have on Christmas Day is Braised Rabbit, my Aunt however, had not prepared this for us fearing that we wouldn't be accustomed to it. Little did she know that the Mister and I thrive on trying new things and experiencing other cultures to the fullest. 

So anyway here I am two years later, making my take on a christmas classic with a braised rabbit pie. I intend to heat the leftover braised rabbit with an additional tin of tomatoes and toss through parpadelle, with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. 

Ingredients (this makes enough for two large pies) 

• Olive Oil 
• Two small rabbits, jointed
• 3 rashers bacon, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 onions, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1/2 green capsicum , diced
• sprig of fresh rosemary
• salt & pepper 
• 2 tbsp flour
• tin of tomatoes
• 1 cup of red wine
• 1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
• 700g puff pastry (or 350g for one pie) 
• A little melted butter 

Method

The reduced cooking liquid

In a hot pan heat a glug of olive oil and in batches add the rabbit pieces to brown all over. Remove and place in slow cooker. 

In same pan heat a little more oil and add bacon, carrot, onions, garlic and capsicum, stirring, and cook for about 5 mins till softened. Add salt and pepper and rosemary. Sprinkle over the flour and stir to coat. 

Pour in wine and vinegar, stirring to remove anything that might have stuck to the bottom, pour all of this into the slow cooker also. Add the tomatoes. Cover and cook on high for 6 - 7 hours till the meat is falling off the bone. Allow to cool slightly before transferring into a container to store in the fridge to cool. 

Once cooled (for 5 to 24 hours), pour any liquid into a heavy based fry pan and heat gently, stirring occasionally, to reduce. Leave to cool in the pan.

Now this is the bit where it gets a little messy, you need to sort through the meat and vege to remove the bones. I recommend taking your time to do this, as rabbit bones can be very small. 
Be gentle.

Cooled, shredded de-boned meat

Once you have gone through and removed all the bones, leaving only vegetables and meat, stir the reduced liquid through again. Return to the fridge.

Grease a pie tin and roll puff pastry to 5mm thick (or thaw frozen pastry sheets). Line the base of the pan with pastry, then fill with the cold rabbit mixture. Top the pie with remaining pastry. Brush with melted butter. and prick the top all over. 

Bake in 190 degree oven for 45mins to an hour, you want the pastry to be puffed and golden all over. Remove from oven and resist cutting in for five to ten minutes. Serve with crusty white bread and a green salad.