Lara Rabbit With White Beans from Horsham, Cardoso Pancetta,
Moorabool Ridge Saffron And Anchioade.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

1 large rabbit
30 fine slices of cardoso pancetta
50 g onion cut into 1 cm cubes
50 g carrot cut into 1 cm cubes
50 g celery cut into 1 cm cubes
50 g of jamon fat
2 cloves of garlic
6 juniper berries
Tabasco
4 pieces of foil 44 cm x 30 cm

Method

Make a paste from the garlic and juniper berries.  Rub this paste onto the rabbit and vegetables and mince together with the jamon fat.  Season with the salt, pepper, and Tabasco. Taste and adjust as required.
Portion the rabbit fillets into two even pieces. Weigh the fillet in a bowl and add the mince up to 170gm. Gently shape into an oval shape. Lightly oil the tin foil. Place five pieces of pancetta on the piece of foil and season.  Place the rabbit oval on to the slices of pancetta.  Then roll the rabbit into a neat and tight barrel shape.

To cook: In a heavy bottomed fry pan grill the rabbit barrels on each side for about one minute.  Roast in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for seven ½ minutes.  Rest for five minutes before serving.

For the white beans

320 g of white beans. Soaked over night in water then drained.
90 g celery cut in to a 3 mm dice.
150 g of onion, cut in to a 3 mm dice
90 g of carrot, cut into a 3 mm dice.
25 g lilliput capers.
30 g garlic crushed into a smooth paste in a mortar and pestle
200 g tomatoes seeded and cut into 1 cm cubes.
2-3 g smoked paprika
1 litre of veal stock.
Saffron.
Salt
Pepper
30 ml Olive oil
50 g Clarified butter.

Heat a heavy bottomed saucepan; add the olive oil and clarified butter.  When they are hot, add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and fry until they are golden in colour.  Add the white beans.  Stir well.  Gently grind the saffron threads in a mortar and pestle with a little salt.  Add the tomatoes, stock, and the saffron.  Mix the saffron in well.  When this is crushed into a fine powder, add to the beans.  Bring the pot to the boil and then reduce the heat and allow the beans to cook until they are tender, or until the stock is reduced.  If the beans are still raw, add a little water.  Taste the beans add salt and pepper to taste.

SERVE WITH PETTAVEL PLATINA PINOT NOIR

The rich earthy red fruit flavours of the Pinot Noir are a great match to the subtle and complex flavours of the rabbit dish. The fine tannin structure of the Pinot Noir provides length of fruit flavour with subtle complex oak characters, balancing the juniper and vegatable spice of the rabbit and it's reduction.