Mad March Hare Recipe

It's my birthday today. I wont tell you how old I am but in the last few weeks a few grey shoots of old age have emerged on my chin. Trying to convnce myself that they are somewhat 'Cluenyesque' if such and adjective exists, they still remain a sign that time is marching on. 


But feeling as young and spritley as I ever have, this morning my memory went racing back to my 6th birthday. Given a giant stuffed hare as a present, my parents told me it was in fact a 'mad march hare'. Until a few years ago the mad hare thing meant nothing to me and 'hare' just came to bed with me.  But hares, that used to be plentiful in the UK and make wonderful eating, have long been thought to behave excitedly in March, which is their mating season! Boxing, jumping and causing miscief the phrase 'hare brained' refers to the same behaviour that occures amongst the males of this stunning species every March. 

So tonight I will be hopping along to the local pub (The Hope on Wandsworth Common if anyone out there is thirsty) to go and get a little 'hare brained'. There will plenty of ecited behavoiur, a little jumping, plenty of mischief and good willing some mating and no boxing.  In honour of this great animal here is an italian style recipes for hare with pasta.
  • 1 hare
  • 600 g of fresh pappardelle pasta (spaghetti, linguini, fetuchini will do)
  • 12 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 carrot chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, finley chopped
  • 1 onion, finely chopped  
  • Parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 laurel leaf
  • 300 ml red wine
  • 150 ml creme
  • Grated Parmesan cheese
  • Salt
  • Pepper

1. After boning cut the hare in little pieces.


2. In little oil soften the onion, carrot and celery. 

3. Now add the hare and brown it on all sides; pour in the red wine and allow it evaporate completely.

4. At this point add the milk, season to taste with salt and pepper , lower the flame and keep on cooking, half-covered, until the meat is very tender (it may takes a couple of hours). If necessary, and the dish dries out add some hot water.

5. Now cook the pappardelle in salted water until al dente, drain well, ix through with some olive oil and dress with the hare sauce in a large bowl. 

6. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 09:53 and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed or trackback from your own site. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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