Spring Rabbit Stew

Yield serves 4
RECIPE Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 Rabbit Legs
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 ounces Ventrèche, diced
  • 1 shallot, diced
  • 1 leek, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • 3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 2½ cups chicken stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • ½ pound Organic Honshimeji Mushrooms, trimmed
  • 12 fingerling potatoes, halved
  • 1 cup fresh green peas (or frozen, see note)
  • ½ cup crème fraîche
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
Recipe notes
This light rabbit stew recipe is full of flavor from pancetta, white wine, and a ton of fresh herbs and vegetables, and can be enjoyed any time of year.
RECIPE Preparation
  1. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Season rabbit with salt and pepper. Brown rabbit until golden on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add ventrèche to the pan and sauté until browned and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon (leaving the rendered fat) and set aside on paper towels to drain.
  2. Lower heat to medium and add shallot, leek, and garlic; saute until shallots are translucent and leeks have softened. Add carrot and celery. Sauté about 3 minutes more. Sprinkle flour over vegetables, stirring to coat; continue to cook until flour turns golden, about 3-5 minutes. Return pan to medium-high heat.
  3. Stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits. Cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in chicken stock, add bay leaf and thyme. When mixture simmers, turn heat to medium-low and return rabbit to pan. Add fingerling potatoes and mushrooms. Cook for 15 minutes, then add the peas. Cover and continue to cook until rabbit is tender and cooked through, about 25 more minutes.
  4. Remove rabbit pieces, set aside. Remove bay leaf and thyme stems. Turn heat to high and reduce until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat, stir in crème fraîche and Dijon; season to taste with salt and pepper. At this point, you can shred the rabbit off the bone or leave as is. Return rabbit to the sauce, top with parsley and tarragon. Serve with crusty bread.

Recipe notes: if using frozen peas, do not add them until you add the rabbit back to the pan in step 4. This dish can also be made into a pot pie, using frozen puff pastry as a crust, just dice the potatoes instead of halve, reduce the sauce a little further, then top with pastry and bake as indicated on the package.