‘Pies, glorious pies. We love pies. They are comforting, steadying – a joy! The first time I had rabbit pie was at Bibendum; my bosses at 192 took us as a special treat. I was very excited and wore my new Romeo Gigli dress to that beautiful room. We saw Egon Ronay and Elizabeth David; she was quite frail and had to be carried by the waiters. Francis Bacon walked in and sat over the other side. Then, to round it off, in came Barry Manilow! What a room! But the most exciting moment was still to come, when Simon Hopkinson, my all-time cooking hero, came out of the kitchen carrying a beautiful rabbit pie. A great moment in my restaurant history.’
Rabbit, Fennel and Smoked-Bacon Pie, Serves 4
Filling
1 rabbit jointed (ask your butcher to do this)
200g diced smoked belly of bacon (pancetta)
170ml white wine
70ml madeira or cider
200ml chicken stock
6 shallots, peeled and sliced into 2cm hunks
2 fennel bulbs cut into wedges
6 cloves of garlic (or wild garlic if you can get your hands on it)
A bundle of herbs: sage, bay and thyme
50g Dijon mustard
70ml olive oil
Maldon sea salt
Method
1. Firstly, bring the rabbit to room temperature. To do so, leave out of the fridge for about 20 minutes.
2. Season it with salt.
3. In a heavy-bottomed pan, gently heat the olive oil, then brown the pieces of jointed rabbit on a medium heat. Once you have a good colour on each piece, take them out and leave to one side.
4. Add the lardons to the pan and begin to brown, then add the shallots, garlic and wedges of fennel and, if needed, add a little more olive oil. There should be a nice bit of movement at this stage. Stir gently, season with a little salt and pepper.
5. Once the vegetables have begun to soften a little, add the rabbit, pour in the madeira and the wine, then reduce by a third.
6. Add the bundle of herbs and top up with the chicken stock, until the rabbit is half immersed.
7. Cover with a lid or tin foil and cook in the oven at 150oC for 40 minutes until the meat has softened.
8. Leave to cool in the liquor.
9. Once it is cool enough to handle, pick the meat off the bone, cut into smaller pieces.
10. Strain the liquor and keep to one side. 11. Mix the meat in with the fennel, garlic and bacon mixture. This is your base for the pie.
Roux
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp crème fraîche
11⁄2–2 pints of braising stock
Method
1. In a pan, melt the butter and add the flour to make a roux. Once it smells biscuity, add the mustard and then gently start pouring in your braising liquor, whisking all the time.
2. You are looking for a smooth consistency, like pouring cream.
3. Mix this sauce through the meat and veg – enough so you have good movement, but neither should overpower the other: a happy marriage of the two.
4. Fill your pie dish to the top with the rabbit mixture, then top with your suet pastry.
Suet Pastry
It’s best to have all your ingredients weighed out and kept in the fridge so they are good and cold.
125g suet
250g self-raising flour
Salt and black pepper
1/2 cup of cold water
1 egg yolk for the egg wash
Method
1. Mix the dry ingredients together, then mix in the water so it all comes together.
2. Mix lightly – you don’t want the dough to be too stiff – and don’t over- work: the less it is worked the better.
3. Leave in the fridge for an hour to rest. 4. Roll out so you have a 1cm-ish-thick dough that will cover your pie dish and lap gently over the sides. If you have too much dough, you can freeze it for another day.
5. Brush with an egg wash. Some people use yolks and cream and then you will get a richer colour on your pie.
6. Bake your pie at 200oC for 30 minutes until golden brown.
This article originally appeared in Frieze Week London magazine 2024 with the title ‘Easy As Pie’.
Further Information
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Illustration: Hannah Robinson
