Jamie Oliver's 12 Hour Rabbit Bolognese

Cooking a Jamie Oliver recipe always seems to be the culinary equivalent of Russian Roulette; there is some good stuff hiding there but there are also many bizarre and awful creations waiting to catch you out.  The first Oliver recipe I ever encountered was a bowl of vanilla ice cream with some smashed up Malteasers sprinkled over it which, while admittedly delicious, is more of an "idea" than a "recipe" per se. The first recipe of his that I cooked myself was a fennel salad which featured raw fennel, fennel seeds and tarragon, and tasted like mouthwash.  Following this I avoided anything he did like the plague, partly through fear and partly because everything he does seems to involve throwing a load of ingredients on platter/tray/chopping board/rubber tyre, squeezing a pomegranate over it and declaring it to be "rustic", which I find hugely annoying.

Recently, however, Jamie Oliver seems to have matured, as he's veered more towards regional Italian cuisines and moved away from being a drummer and the results seem to be a genuine understanding of good, simple food.  I've also been regularly impressed by his chain of restaurants and I'm a massive admirer of his ethical approach to food, so with that in mind I've decided to grab hold of this and give it a try as soon as I can find a bunny.

Original Recipe

Ingroodlements

olive oil

3 rashers higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon, roughly chopped

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

1 whole rabbit, skinned, including offal

1 bulb garlic, left whole, white skin peeled away

2 leeks, washed, topped and tailed

2 carrots, washed, topped and tailed

2 sticks celery, washed and trimmed

2 red onions, skin on, washed

20 g dried porcini mushrooms

2x400 g tinned chopped tomatoes

500 ml light smooth beer/ale

2 tablespoons tomato purée

sea salt

ground pepper

1 whole nutmeg

½ lemon

a few sprigs of fresh thyme

Optional serving method: serves 6

500 g dried pasta, optional

Parmesan or Cheddar cheese, optional

extra virgin olive oil, optional

a few sprigs of fresh thyme, optional

Methodology

Preheat the oven to 110°C/225°F/gas ¼. Put your largest casserole-type pan on a medium heat and add a lug of olive oil and the chopped bacon. Once it's lightly golden, add the bay leaves and rosemary sprigs and lay the whole rabbit and the offal on top. Drop in the whole garlic bulb, leeks, carrots, celery and onions, then add the dried mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, beer, tomato purée, and just enough water to cover everything (roughly 1 litre). Bring to the boil, and season generously with loads of black pepper and a few pinches of salt. Finely grate in half the nutmeg, put the lid on, then pop the casserole into the oven and leave to cook for 12 hours.

Once cooked, let the stew cool down a little, then get yourself a big pair of clean Marigold gloves and another large pan. This is where you make it a pleasure to eat, so pick through small handfuls of stew at a time, taking out any bones or vegetable skins. Discard the herbs, and flake the beautiful meat off the bones and into the clean pan. Scrunch the vegetables and offal in your hands as you go and break them into smaller pieces. Pour any juices left behind into the new pan, then go back in and have another rummage to make sure you haven't missed anything. Have a taste and correct the seasoning. Finely grate in the zest of half the lemon and pick in a few thyme tips to brighten up the sauce. Divvy the sauce up between sandwich bags and either freeze them, or keep in the fridge.

When you want to make your rabbit bolognese, simply reheat a small ladle of sauce per person in a pan over a medium heat and cook around 80 grams of pasta per person. Spaghetti and penne are favourites of mine for this. Boil according to packet instructions in salted water, then drain, reserving some of the starchy cooking water. Toss with your sauce and a little splash of the cooking water to make it silky then add a nice handful of cheese. Taste and check the seasoning then serve immediately with another good sprinkling of cheese, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and some fresh thyme tips.