braised rabbit pappardelle with mixed spring vegetables

Directions

1. With a food processor, mince the pancetta or prosciutto, garlic, sage, parsley and approximately 2 tablespoons of the olive oil into a fine-textured pestata (like a pesto.) Place the rabbit pieces in a large deep bowl, season all over with the sea salt and black pepper to taste, then sprinkle the flour over all the pieces and toss to coat evenly.
2. Pour the remaining olive oil into a deep stock pot and set it over medium-high heat and begin to saute the pestata. Cook and stir until the pestata has dried a bit and just begins to stick to the bottom of the pan, about 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Lay the legs or pieces in the pan in one layer, reduce the heat, and cover the pan. Cook gently for about 10 minutes, allowing the meat to give up its juices and brown very slowly, until all the pieces are lightly golden colored on one side.
4. Flip them over, cover the stock pot and slowly brown the second side, about another 10 minutes or so. (If the pot is not large enough for all the pieces, work in batches, remove the first batch and repeat with the second until done).
5. Add all the cooked pieces back into the stockpot, add in the celery ribs and leaves and the white wine; saute this slowly until the wine reduces a bit. Now add the veal or veal & vegetable combo stock and the red wine vinegar to the mixture using a wooden spoon coat the pieces with the stock evenly and adjust the heat until it is cooking at a slow, simmering bubble.
6. Leave this to cook, for about 30 minutes or more until the pan juices turn to a thick brown glaze, always turning and tumbling the rabbit pieces as it cooks to ensure even flavor and balance (remove from the heat and set aside to cool.) Once cooled a bit, remove the cooked meat from all the bones, careful as rabbit does have very small bones, etc. Place the rabbit meat back into the stock pot with the pan juices, etc. and set aside for adding to the dish later.
7. NOTE: If the pan juices are too thin or watery at the finish, before adding in the de-boned rabbit meat; place the stock pot with the pan juices on medium heat and simmer to reduce for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or so, stir and check this often as it can stick and burn and ruin the final sauce (this final sauce will be used for the pasta dish.)
8. In a large deep skillet, drizzle some olive oil and add a few pieces of the chopped garlic, saute lightly until aromatic. Remove the garlic and discard. Add in the cut carrots and saute for a moment or two until beginning to brown lightly; add a dose of the stock and stir gently and continue to cook on medium heat until the carrots soften a bit and the liquid reduces. Remove the carrots from the skillet and reserve the stock in a small bowl.
9. Repeat this process with the olive oil and garlic pieces for the baby brussel sprouts and remove when tender and then repeat the process for the baby artichokes; use the reserved stock from the carrots and add more for each vegetable you are sauteing. Set all the cooked vegetables aside in their seperate bowls.
10. In a large stock pot of boiling well salted water, cook the pappardelle noodles until soft (they cook very quickly as they are freshly made.) Drain out the noodles and palce in a large flat platter and drizzle lightly with olive oil so they do not stick.
11. In a large medium deep skillet add your desired amount of the rabbit meat and braised meat sauce from the stock pot. Place on medium low heat until it starts to simmer lightly, add in your cooked brussels, carrots and artichokes blend gently into the sauce and let simmer very slowly and lightly.
12. Add in the fresh peas and chopped tomatoes at the very end, these only need to warm up in the dish for 1 to 2 minutes and they are ready. Now add the cooked pappardelle to the slowly simmering sauce and add more sauce (or a good splash of additional veal stock if the sauce is too thick.) let this simmer slowly, stirring gently until the noodles are well coated. Remove from the heat and season with additional sea salt and pepper to taste before serving; serve immediately with some fresh chopped parsley for flavor and garnish.
13. NOTE: Store the remaining rabbit meat in the refrigerator or freezer to add to risotto or future pasta dishes. Reserve and freeze any remaining braising sauce for future dishes as well in a separate container.