Another day, another rabbit. Discovering new, tasty ways to prepare this tasty kitchen staple of ours is a joy. Today Mrs BYF made rabbit pie. 

INGREDIENTS

Heat the oven to 180C 

For the crust she made a short pastry using a few handfuls of flour, maize  meal fines and a bit of bran. A good rule of thumb is 400g flour to 150g butter. Use more butter if you like the pastry ‘shorter’.  You can buy puff pastry, it works just as well. Halve the pastry. Line the pie dish with half of the pastry and put the dish and leftover pastry in the fridge. 

2 large rabbits, meat cut from the bones and chopped. Use the bones for stock

1 Large leek or 2 smaller ones

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons of olive oil, butter or other plant oil is also good

1 tablespoon of fresh tyme 

1 teaspoon of fresh marjoram

1 teaspoon of fresh chopped sage

1 cup of white wine

A bit of stock  if needed

Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Put the oil or butter in a pan big enough to take all the rabbit pieces in a single layer. Brown the rabbit well and then remove the rabbit, keep aside. Cook the leek and garlic in the same pan you browned the rabbit until translucent. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Add the rabbit and the herbs and cook over medium heat for about 20 min, stirring well to coat the rabbit in the herbs. Season with salt and pepper 

Put the rabbit in the pie dish roll out the other half of the pastry and put the pastry ‘lid’ on the pie. Cut slits in the middle of the pie to let the steam out.  Bake at 180 C until well browned – about 30 minutes