Rabbit pie with bacon and chanterelles

Quite mild, rabbit makes a luscious stew, especially when paired with other mild ingredients like leeks and peas. Like most game, rabbit is quite lean and tends toward toughness if not treated with a gentle hand. While I love to braise or stew rabbit on the bone, which infuses it with a lovely richness the mild meat might otherwise lack, my favorite rabbit dish is this rabbit pie. A creamy sauce envelops rabbit, chanterelles, peas, and herbs. I prepare it in late summer with freshly picked chanterelles my little boy and I gather in the neighboring forests. Unlike other mushrooms that can taste of the soil and of the earth, little golden chanterelles sing of sweetness and have a prominent floral citrus note that marries nicely with the other flavors in this simple, old-fashioned pie. If you don’t feel comfortable foraging for your own wild mushrooms, you can often find fresh chanterelles at local farmers markets or online, or simply substitute the common button mushroom.

SERVES: 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 4 ounces bacon, finely chopped
• 1 pound rabbit loin, chopped into ½-inch cubes
• 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped into ¼-inch dice
• 3 small celeriac, peeled and chopped into ¼-inch dice
• 2 teaspoons finely ground unrefined sea salt
• 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour or high-extraction wheat flour
• 1 cup Chicken Bone Broth or Chicken Foot Broth
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces chanterelle mushrooms, chopped
• 1 pound English peas, shelled, or 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• ½ recipe (1 disk) Simple Sourdough Pie Crust

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Melt the 1 teaspoon of butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. When it froths, stir in the bacon and fry until crisp, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the rabbit to the hot fat in the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until opaque and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Transfer the rabbit to the bowl with the bacon.
4. Toss the leeks, carrots, and celeriac into the skillet. Sprinkle the vegetables with the salt, then cover the skillet and let the vegetables cook undisturbed for 15 minutes, or until softened. Transfer the vegetables to the waiting bowl of bacon and rabbit.
5. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. When it froths, whisk in the flour to form a thickening paste. Continue whisking while slowly pouring in the chicken broth and heavy cream. Bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking, to form a gravy thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat.
6. Pour the gravy into the bowl with bacon, rabbit, and vegetables. Stir in the chanterelles, peas, and thyme, then pour the filling back into the skillet if the skillet is ovenproof or into a shallow 10-inch round casserole if it isn’t.
7. Roll out the pie dough to an 11-inch round following the directions for Simple Sourdough Pie Crust. Lay the dough round over the filling, crimp the edges, and cut three or four slits to allow steam to escape.
8. Bake the pie for 1 hour, until golden brown.
9. Pull it from the oven, let cool about 5 minutes, then spoon the pie into bowls and serve.