Polenta with Slow Braised Rabbit, Toasted Pinenuts & Parmesan Cheese

Cook Time 2 hours 30 mins

Servings 4

Ingredients

polenta
1L water
200g fine grain polenta
150g butter
100g -150g parmesan cheese, grated
salt to taste

rabbit
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
100g pancetta, bacon or prosciutto, diced
1 large rabbit, cut into 6 or 8 pieces
1 cup white wine
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 bay leaves
2-3 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp. pinenuts, toasted
sea salt and pepper

to serve
parmesan cheese, grated
parsley, finely chopped
pine nuts
olive oil

Method

To make rabbit ragu, add olive oil to a heavy bottomed pot over a medium heat. When hot, add onion, carrot, celery and pancetta. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and caramelized. Raise heat to high and add rabbit. Brown lightly on all sides then pour in the wine and stir.

While scraping the bottom of the pan, add tomato paste, bay leaves and stock. Stir well, season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, stir and reduce heat to low. Simmer for approximately 2 hours until the rabbit flesh falls off the bone.

Remove rabbit from sauce. When cool enough to handle, shred rabbit. Return meat to pot and heat through.

Put water into a pan and bring to a slow boil. Whisk the polenta in slowly and cook on a high heat for approximately five minutes until it thickens.

Turn down the heat to low and cook for approx 45 minutes, stirring every few minutes. If it becomes too thick, add more water until desired consistency. To finish the polenta, take off heat and whisk in the butter. Add grated parmesan and salt to taste.

To serve, pour polenta into a dish and cover with rabbit.

To finish, sprinkle over Parmesan cheese, parsley and pinenuts, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.