Name: Rabbit with mustard & bacon
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 50g butter softened; small handful parsley and tarragon leaves, chopped; 1 small garlic clove crushed; grated zest ½ lemon; 2 rabbit legs (see tips below); 10 slices pancetta from a pack; 3 tbsp crème fraîche; 1 tbsp Dijon mustard; 1 tbsp grain mustard; lemon juice; steamed, peeled new potatoes to serve

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Rabbit with mustard & bacon

Rabbit with mustard & bacon

Barney Desmazery

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Serves 4

More effort

Prep: 40 mins

Cook: 1 hr

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A star rating of 2.5 out of 5.2 ratingsRate

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Barney's restaurant classic involves a bit of chef's technique and gives you a stunning result

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Complete the dish

Showing items 1 to 3 of 3

Crushed new potatoes

A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.20 ratings

Rabbit cacciatore

A star rating of 4.3 out of 5.11 ratings

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

50g butter

softened
small handful parsley and tarragon

leaves, chopped
1 small garlic clove

crushed
grated zest ½ lemon
2 rabbit

legs (see tips below)
10 slices pancetta

from a pack

For the mustard sauce

3 tbsp crème fraîche
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp grain mustard
lemon juice
steamed, peeled new potatoes

to serve

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Nutrition: per serving

kcal352
fat27g
saturates14g
carbs1g
sugars1g
fibre0g
protein27g
salt1.78g

Method

step 1

Mash the butter with the herbs, garlic and lemon zest, then chill. This can be done up to a day in advance. Use a small sturdy knife to scrape the meat away from the thigh bone part of the rabbit leg. Try and create a pocket around the bone rather than cutting into the actual meat. When you get to the joint, cut or snap the bone away.
step 2

Halve the butter, roll into two logs, then stuff into the cavity of each rabbit leg. Wrap the slices of pancetta around each leg so that they join underneath. The rabbit can be prepared up to a day ahead and kept in the fridge.
step 3

Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Place the rabbit on a shallow roasting tray and roast for 20-30 mins (see tip below), then leave to rest for 5 mins. While the rabbit is cooking, make the sauce. Heat the crème fraîche with both mustards and simmer for 2-3 mins until thickened slightly. Season to taste, then add a squeeze of lemon juice and set aside.
step 4

To serve, spoon some sauce onto each plate and carve the rabbit into thick slices. Arrange the rabbit on top of the sauce with some steamed new potatoes on the side.

RECIPE TIPS

TIP - BUYING RABBIT

If you can’t buy the legs separately, buy a whole rabbit and remove the back legs or ask your butcher to do it for you. Freeze the rest of the rabbit for another recipe like the Rabbit cacciatore (see 'Goes well with' section).

TIP - TYPES OF RABBIT

The type of rabbit available is what separates the home from the professional kitchen. Restaurants generally use a larger farmed rabbit leg for this recipe. However, most butchers and supermarkets sell smaller, gamier wild rabbit, so that’s most likely what you’ll be cooking with. When using wild rabbit, look for the biggest legs possible and roast them for 20 mins.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, May 2011

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A star rating of 2.5 out of 5.2 ratings

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