For those of you who missed the Flavors blog last week, here is my stuffed rabbit!
I love rabbit, and can usually get it at Bristol Farms, but after asking 6 butchers, I couldn't find one who would bone a rabbit for me. I had visions of Brad and his boning knive ending either in a trip to the ER for Brad, or in unrecognizable tiny pieces of bunny, bones and organs all over my kitchen. I finally found both a rabbit and a head butcher who would bone it at Jensen's, another upscale grocery store.
The butcher did a great job, and gave me a package of bones, organs and what I wanted: boned rabbit meat I could stuff.
First I made the stuffing:
Stuffing:
1.5 oz. pancetta, chopped
1/2 bulb of fennel, cored and chopped
2 cloves of garlic
2 Italian sausages, removed from casings
Saute the pancetta, garlic and fennel in a splash of olive oil. Add sausage and cook until browned. Set aside.
1 boned rabbit
8 thin slices of pancetta
1 oz. fontina cheese
black pepper and sea salt
1 c. white wine
2 T. lemon juice
Sprinkle black pepper on both sides of rabbit. Place rabbit on a sheet of parchment paper with 5 pieces of cooking string under, and positioned to tie when rabbit is rolled.
Top rabbit with thinly sliced pancetta, then stuffing, topped with fontina.
Roll and tie rabbit. Sprinkle roll with sea salt and place in a baking dish. Pour wine and lemon juice over rabbit.
Bake for 1 hour at 350, basting occasionally with pan liquid. Let sit 5-10 minutes before slicing.
One word: DELICIOUS! I will definitely do this again!
