It was meant to be a simple dinner, using up ingredients in my overflowing freezer and pantry, which I did, but it wasn’t simple. That’s what happens when I have a day at home to cook…
I found a rabbit in the freezer (I know that sounds crazy but it was from work and no one else wanted to take it home), some tomatoes that were bordering on over-ripe on the counter, some limp carrots and some ok celery from the bottom of the fridge. I hunted through The Cooks Companion, always reliable for hearty basic recipes, and I wasn’t disappointed tonight. A basic pasta sauce using hare legs, I thought using rabbit would be fine, which it was.
Here is a photo of the results, a homemade pureed tomato sauce with carrot, onion and celery then added to a whole rabbit, browned in olive oil and slow cooked in a casserole dish with garlic, red wine, bay leaf and fresh thyme.
The wine was a Chambourcin bought at the Rouse Hill Growers Market and worked quite well in the dish and in my glass.

Oh and by the way, it was delicious.