Rabbit Ravioli with Porcini Mushrooms
Excuse the sojourn of late -computer and I have fallen out - I think we're going to break up soon ....anyway enough about my personal life. Here follows the main course I created for the last supper event and it went down a treat. I remember eating rabbit as a child on the farm -proper freeganism... killed by dad, cooked by mum -proper cliché.....and proper delicious. You might get your hands on a rabbit from the right people at a farmers market or you can order one from a butcher that deals with more specialised meats. Ennis Butchers and Fallon & Byrne will both oblige you if you live in or near Dublin. Ravioli is an excellent way to make a little meat go a very long way and you can freeze them ahead of time so if you are preparing a meal for a large crowd they can reduce the stress levels of a main course immensely. You can make pasta by hand but to get it as thin as you need for ravioli you're really in a better place with a machine. Try other fillings if you can't get rabbit...I once had wild boar ravioli in a restaurant with no menu in the hills of Tuscany....I think you'll have better luck hunting down the rabbit though.
What you need: For 12 (freeze whatever you don't need)
For the filling-
For the filling-
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| Rabbit Ravioli with Porcini Mushrooms |
What you need: For 12 (freeze whatever you don't need)
For the filling-
- 1 rabbit jointed (ask your butcher to joint it)
- 2 carrots roughly chopped
- 2 sticks of celery roughly chopped
- 1 onion roughly chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
- a few handfulls of whatever mushrooms you like -roughly chopped
- 2 ltrs chicken stock
- 1 egg
- 1kg '00' flour (you need '00' flour as it has extra gluten -which equals magic stretching power!)
- 10 eggs (apply the general rule of 1 whole egg per 100g flour)
- pinch of salt
- 1 extra egg for brushing on the dough
For the filling-
- Braise your rabbit pieces on a hot frying pan
- In a large saucepan gently fry your onions and garlic
- Add your rabbit followed by the vegetables and stock
- Simmer for 2 hours on a low heat or until the meat if falling off the bone
- Strain the meat and veg, allow to cool and remove the meat from the bones
- Using a hand blender whizz the meat and vegetables into a paste
- Add some beaten egg if it is too dry
- Place your flour and salt in a large bowl -make a well in the middle
- Whisk up your eggs and pour into the well
- Gradually combine with your hands
- When you are able, form it into one ball of dough -knead it on a lightly floured work surface until it is springy
- If it is too dry you can wet it by adding water from your hands (run tap on your hands, shake off excess and kneed the dough)
- Divide your dough into 10 pieces -wrap each in cling film and rest for 15 mins
- Begin with one piece of dough -run it through all the sizes on a pasta machine until you have the thinnest pasta -lay this on a lightly floured surface
- Mark out the ravioli on the lower half of the sheet using a circular shaped cutter -I have used an espresso cup in the past -whatever you have to hand
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| Ravioli Assembly Line |
- Place a small teaspoon of filling in each circle, brush the upper half of the pasta with the beaten egg and fold over
- Cut out each piece of ravioli - after you have pressed all of the air out seal each piece of ravioli
- If freezing them -use a box or freezer drawer with plenty of space and separate the layers with greaseproof paper -try not too let the ravioli touch each other
- To make the sauce reduce down the liquid from the rabbit stew and season accordingly
- Rehydrate some porcini mushrooms -add the liquid from this into the sauce for extra depth of flavour
- Bring 5 litres of water to the boil in a pot with a few generous sprinkles of salt
- Cook the ravioli for about 3 mins or until they have risen to the surface
- Serve with the sauce and some porcini mushrooms
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| Pass the Parcel |
