1kg (~2lb) hare meat cut into small pieces
2 cups red wine - I used an Italian sangiovese
1 onion
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3 bay leaves
3 cloves
10 black peppercorns
3 tbsp olive oil
4 slices (200+g) pancetta, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
~1L of stock or water
Pinch of nutmeg - I grated fresh
400g (13 oz) pappardelle (or perhaps fettuccini? the wider the better apparently)
1 tbsp butter
Grated parmigiano for the table.
Combine hare, wine, onion, celery, carrot, thyme, bay leaves, cloves, and peppercorns in a bowl, mix well and leave to marinade for 12 hours or overnight.
Drain the meat and veges retaining the marinade, and finely dice carrot onion and celery.
Gently fry pancetta in olive oil in large saucepan for a few minutes, add veges and cook until soft.
Add meat and brown on all sides, season with salt and pepper.
Add marinade, stock/water (I only used 750mL
) and nutmeg.Cover and simmer for around 2 hours or until hare is tender
Cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente.
Drain, place on serving dish, add butter and a couple of spoonfuls of h are sauce and toss.
Spoon remaining meat and sauce on top, and serve with grated parmigiano.
The book this was contained in recommends the "Italian equivalent of a Bordeaux, a Sassicaia or Tignanello" as the accompaniment
Bordeaux = Cabernet Sauvignon / Cabernet Franc / Merlot blends
Sassicaia = Cabernet Sauvignon / Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvingnon / Merlot / Sangiovese,
Tignanello = Sangiovese / Cabernet Sauvignon / Cabernet Franc.
As stated above I marinaded in Sangiovese but I've yet to decide what I'll open to drink with it
