Second courses recipes

Jugged hare

Lepre in salmì

Ingredients for 6-8 servings:
1 hare (1.2 kg)
Polenta
Hare entrails
100 gr calf’s liver
50 gr butter
4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
60 gr minced lean ham
3 little onions, finely sliced
50 gr flour
Half glass of Marsala dry

Marinade:
1 bottle of Barbera wine
2 stick of celery, finely sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 clove of garlic, mashed
3 leaves of sage
3 leaves of lauro
1 tsp of thyme and marjoram
6 juniper berries
6 pepper grains
Salt

Ready in: about 145 minutes

How to prepare the recipe: "Jugged hare":
Chop the hare; wash, dry and put the pieces in a terrine (bowl) with all the ingredients for the marinade. Marinate for 24 hours, rolling them every now and then.

Drain the hare pieces, dry and dust with flour.

Brown the little onions in a pan with butter and oil, remove them and keep aside. Now, in the same pan, brown the hare pieces, add the ham, the little onions keeped aside, the marinade previously passed through a sieve, the calf’s liver and hare entrails previously minced.

Put the lid and cook at middle heat for about an hour or until the meat is tender. Remove the hare pieces and keep them hot, pass the gravy through a sieve, add the flour diluted in the Marsala, mix and put the hare pieces in the pan again and let them cook for a while.

Place the hare on a serving plate with hot polenta and spread it with the gravy.

Preparation time: 45 minutes (+ 24 hours for marinade)
Cooking time: 100 minutes
Difficulty: medium
Calories: 510-680 per person

Chef's advice
I suggest to match this dish with Barolo, Cabernet Franc del Collio, Barbera dell’Oltrepò Pavese.