NORTHERN PLANNER

It’s January, it’s dark, wet, cold and miserable. Time for another recipe, something  comforting, warming and cheery.

This one takes a bit of effort, but you’re probably skint after overspending in December, the weather out is rubbish, so it’s not as if you’ve anything else to do.

Just a word on rabbit. It’s lean, cheap, has a deep, complex taste and shreds like a dream. You can get it at any good butcher – which is a good excuse to not go to a supermarket and buy something local. Ask for it jointed, with the sweet meats removed.

So………….

Put the jointed rabbit in pot with one large onion. peeled and halved. Put it on the hob and bring it up to light simmer, leave it gently bubbling for two hours.

You’ll have plenty of time to make a simple tomato sauce. Finely chop two cloves of garlic, gently fry in a small pan for a minute or so, tip in a can of chopped tomato and sprinkle in a teaspoon of dry oregano. Bring all that to the boil and leave.

Then open a packet of fresh lasagna and cut into chunky, 1 inch thick ribbons. You could use papardelle, bit there’s something even nicer about thicker, uneven pasta. It seems to hold more sauce, and if you’re having people over it looks like you made the pasta yourself.

When the rabbit is done, take it out of the pot and remove the meat from the bones, shred it finely and leave ready for later.

Strain the remaining stock and then boil as hot as you can, until it’s reduced by a half. Then pour in a glass of white wine and reduce by a half again.

Tip tomato sauce into the stock wine and bring to the boil, tip in all the rabbit meat and simmer for five minutes.

While it’s simmering, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and throw in the pasta, boil it for three minutes and drain.Return it to the pot and pour in the sauce. Stir it all on the heat until the sauce thoroughly coats the pasta and serve it immediately, ideally with grated Parmesan cheese.

This mean is a dream, trust me. A proper winter warmer – and pretty impressive if you’re having people ’round.

Next time we’ll do some hearty vegetarian cooking.