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Rabbit and Peas

Written by Countryside Alliance | Jan 1, 2000 12:00:00 AM
  • 2 rabbits (jointed and prepared)
  • 4 slices of prosciutto ham
  • 800g frozen peas
  • A bunch of pea shoots
  • 50g bread crumbs
  • 100ml double cream
  • 3 eggs
  • 30ml Madeira
  • 3 sheets gelatin
  • 1tbls rice wine vinegar
  • 2 banana shallots
  • 300g cream cheese
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 slices of ham
  • Zest of a lemon
  • Sprig of mint
  • 200ml chicken stock

Remove the loins and any excess meat, bone out the back legs and fl atten under a sheet of cling film. Set to one side. Remove the offal and put in a blender, blitz. Pass. Return to the blender with 1 egg, cream, 30ml Madeira, blend. Once mixed make a sausage of the offal mixture using cling film.

Poach in boiling water for 20 mins. Leave to cool. Roast the carcasses & boil in water to make stock.

For the ballotine; take a piece of foil, oil the surface and lay the prosciutto slices side by side with an overlap in the middle of the foil. Lay the flattened legs on top to form a rectangle. Season. Then lay the offal sausage on top of the rabbit in the middle. Roll one side over the sausage until the roll comes together, roll tightly in foil. Cook in a bainmarie filled with the rabbit stock you made and the fore legs, at 160c for 45 minutes. Remove and set aside.

For the lollipop; pick the meat from the hind legs and mix with the excess meat (which you have minced). Season. Roll into balls (4). Roll in flour. Egg wash in the whisked 2 eggs. Breadcrumb and deep fry at 180c for 7 minutes. Insert a skewer to make a lollipop.

To make the lasagne, fine dice the shallots, fry gently, season, add the rice wine vinegar and remove from heat when softened. Dissolve 1 sheet of gelatin in a splash of hot water. Cream the cheese with the shallots, fine diced ham, lemon zest, dissolved gelatin. Season. Leave to set on a small loaf tin lined with cling fi lm.

Pea puree and lasagna sheets boil 400grms of peas in 200ml of stock. Stick blend and pass. Skim the top half of the mixture off and add the gelatin to it, leave to set on a fl at tray lined with cling film.

Boil 400g of peas with the mint and seasoning, stick blend, drain any excess liquid. Assemble the lasagne by laying pea sheets over and under the set cream cheese and ham terrine. Cut 4 slices with a hot knife. Plate the ingredients and whilst plating, pan-fry the loin 2 minutes each side and rest in a hot place for 5 minutes. Reduce some stock until thick and shiny. Slice the loins and finish with jus and pea shoots.