Great Italian Chefs / Valeria Necchio
| Quantity | Ingredients |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 rabbit, cleaned and boned (yielding about 500g meat), finely chopped |
| 45g | Unsalted butter |
| 30ml | Extra virgin olive oil |
| 100g | Minced pancetta |
| 1 | Onion (Finely diced) |
| 1 | Carrot (peeled and finely diced) |
| 1 | Celery stick (Finely diced) |
| 3 | Sage leaves |
| 1 sprig | Rosemary |
| 180ml | Dry white wine |
| 480ml | Vegetable stock |
| 45ml | Passata |
| 15g | Tomato purée |
| To taste | Fine salt |
| To taste | Freshly ground black pepper |
Method
Heat the butter and oil in a large heavy-based pan set over a medium heat. Once hot, add the pancetta and pan-fry until browned and crisp, about 2 minutes.
Next add the onion, carrot, celery, sage and rosemary and cook until the vegetables are very tender, 4–5 minutes, stirring often.
At this point, stir in the chopped rabbit meat and increase the heat to medium-high. Brown it on all sides for about 5 minutes, then pour in the wine, stock, tomato sauce and purée. Once the sauce is simmering, reduce the heat to low and cover.
Cook the ragù for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally and adding more stock if the liquid reduces too quickly. By the end you should have a red-blushed, thick sauce with meat that almost falls apart. Taste and adjust the seasoning; discard the sage and rosemary, remove from the heat and set aside.
Next, bring a large pan of salted water to a rolling boil. Lower in the tagliatelle and cook for 3–4 minutes.
Meanwhile, set the rabbit ragù back over a medium heat. When the pasta is ready, drain it and top with the ragù. Toss until any water has been absorbed and the pasta is well-coated with the sauce. Serve with a generous dusting of Parmesan.