12 hour rabbit bolognese

Tried this last week using one of our own rabbits. Got it on the boil then stuck it on the wood burner for the evening but only let it simmer for about 6 hours....Didn't stir it or anything so it was still in one piece and just fell off the bones. Forget to add the last minute stuff..lemon etc. It tasted wonderful but could have done with some extra time to reduce the liquid. <br /> Have now got a double pot full on the burner. Thanks Jamie...this will certainly be regular on the menu here.

Very tasty!<br /> This dish was very locally sourced for me, I used a rabbit I'd shot in my field, the beer was from a micro-brewery less than 1/2 mile from the field, the herbs were from the garden but sadly not the veg (note to self - get to work on the vegetable patch).<br /> I cooked it in a slow cooker like others here and also found it too watery - I resolved this by taking off a lot of the liquid and reducing it in a saucepan, but next time will try with less added liquid (perhaps using only the beer, not the water)<br /> I like Jillian's idea of putting the rabbit in cheesecloth, it would help with the task of removing the bones.<br /> When I saw that it makes 14 servings I didn't really believe it, but after cooking this I'm surprised to say that 14's not far off the mark!

I made this on Sunday and had for dinner yesterday, very disappointed, very bland, I am a great fan of Jamie's recipes and use many especially when cooking for friends and always successful but not this one, <br /> To Jamie's defence, he can't please everyone all of the time,<br />

Saw this on telly months ago and I've been saving it up for our annual Easter Bunny bake-off. I made this last night and this morning - OMG. I too used a cast iron pot so that the sauce would caramelize and reduce and I oven roasted cherry tomatoes instead of using canned and this morning the sauce is nice and a thick red/brown. I had to add about 150ml of boling water about 2 hours before it had finished as my pot wasn't big enough for the full 1lt of water at the beginning. Once it was finished I picked out the vegetables (carefully) and milled them, then I sorted through the meat putting it into a separate container (so I could dbl check for bones) and then once I had removed all the bones I milled the remainder of the pots contents and added that to the previous sauce. It was much easier when there's 3 containers (one for meat, one for sauce and one to cook in). It looks and smells delicious. I am sooooo looking forward to dinner tonight!

I'm going to cook this with the rabbit tied in cheesecloth so it's easier to separate the meat and add it to the sauce, as opposed to picking bones out of the sauce.

Like many here, I'm using a slow cooker. The problem with this is that it keeps too much moisture leaving you with a watery, bland sauce. Use a sieve for the bones, you will then be picking vegetables away from the bones which is far easier than picking bones out of the sauce.<br /> <br /> Reduce the sauce on the stove if too watery to concentrate the flavors and get rid of some of the moisture. Pasta should be al dente to add some texture to the sauce. It's just a shame TV doesn't come with taste sampling so we can compare before deciding whether it's the recipe at fault or our techniques... I hit this dilemma regularly...

after reading previous comments i decided to chop the veg before chucking everything in the slow cooker for the day, and used red wine instead of ale. while it was cooking the house smelled amazing, i was so looking forward to eating this meal. however, after spending TWO HOURS picking through the sauce for the bones, i still hadnt got them all out and it was pretty much inedible. VERY DISAPPOINTING as it did taste so very delicious. did not realize rabbits were so boney (some of the bones had broken up into peices smaller than a grain of rice!) next time i will use meat with less bones!!

Jamie, You have let me down. My fiancée made me this tonight. After an academy award winning performance of faux enjoyment, I now need to get some take away without her finding out. The worst is that there is enough sauce left to create meals for the next week! Feeds 14? You weren't kidding!! I can't really tell you specifically what was wrong with this meal. Not the rabbit, I LOVE rabbit usually. I couldn't even tell you how to make this better. The leeks came out nearly whole, creating a limp splodge of watery gray slime. The outer shells of the onion did not break down but the taste had gone. Parts of the carrots had also not broken down. Finally the presentation looked like baby vomit. On the positive note, the rabbit itself was very tender, and the smell whilst cooking was glorious and the overall price of the meal was relatively good. Maybe some decent quality stock could improve this?

Just one little tip... check your oven instructions - mine automatically turns itself off after it's been on for 3hrs 59 mins!<br />

Im going to try and make it tomorrow with chicken because many people say rabbit tastes pretty strong so im playing safe on this one. good luck everyone!!!

Despite the negative comments, I wanted to try this for myself. I'm sorry to say it was disappointing. The flavor was nice (I added extra porcini and bacon and seasoned more than I normally would, based on other comments), but the rabbit meat just clumped together in big chunks when it was time to mix with the pasta, which was really disappointing given the time and cost that went into making this. Not something I will try again.

It's not bland at all! It's just not a bright red, tasting-of-nothing-but-tomato, jar-like brand-name sauce. This is much more subtle, and much more like a Bologna sauce. It's rich. You can taste the meat, as well as all of the herbs and veg and meaty mushroominess.<br /> <br /> I would do the picking and shredding into a colander over a large bowl. You should end up with a good 500ml+ of liquid in the bowl (once you've also sieved in the remaining cooking sauce, checking for bones), which is a bit pale at first. Reduce it down till thickish and red and rich, then add back to the meat sauce, which should then be thick and red-brown.<br /> <br /> Also, I didn't use leeks (I thought the onions were enough, the more tender inner layers of which mashed up fine), and I squeezed the liquid from the celery, but didn't include in the sauce - all of this avoids any stringy veg.<br /> <br /> I've just made up SEVEN two-person portions (a levelish ladle per person). Loving it.

Bright red, sickly sweet, bought-jar-like tomato sauce this is not. If you like and are used to sugary bolognese which you expect to be pillar-box-red, and where all you can taste is tomato and any flavor of meat or subtlety is lost, then this will be new to you. True Bologna ragu is not that, but it much more like this.<br /> <br /> The recipe, if followed, does become too wet. I sieved off separately the last pint or two of sauce from the pan, making sure there were definitely no bones in there, and then reduced it as far as I dared. I had a deep, rich, and colorful sauce which I then added to the rest. Less wet, much richer, and all the better for it. Bear in mind that when you come to cook each portion, you'll lose some liquid in the process.<br /> <br /> It's not bland, if seasoned well. It has all the flavors of the meat, the veg and the mushrooms. Wonderful.

Some of you clearly have a tight fitting lid and are short on salt. Jamie used a cast pot which likely let off some steam and reduced the sauce, which concentrated and caramelized the flavours. If your bolognese is too thin, reduce it at a easy simmer with the lid off.

I was really looking forward to trying this recipe but was disappointed. The bones really do break up, and are so small its difficult to ensure you get them all out. The sauce is bland, but adding the lemon and thyme at the end does help with this. There is so much though that it will feed us our bolognese dishes till February. Not a recipe I'll follow again, but certainly some of the principles I'll try again. One tip... Don't put any extra water in unless you really need it, I expect the recipe is meant to read a liter of fluid in total.

There's a reason we chop veg up first Jamie; it looked easy on TV but trying to squish hot vegetables is NOT easier than chopping them up at the begining. I ended up with long stringy bits of leek and celery which you have been better chopped to start with.<br /> <br /> I also ended up with a VERY bland meat sauce, despite following the recipe exactly. I ended up correcting the flavor for it to be any good . Sorry Jamie, I agree with eating rabbit and I agree with long, slow cooking but I think there are better rabbit recipes out there.<br /> <br /> On the positive side the lemon and thyme at the end was a very nice touch and will use that again!

I watched this and he mentiond a welsh cheese, but I cannot track it down anywhere, it sounded like 'La mash' but I have tried all different spelling<br /> In the above recipe he does not mention it<br /> <br /> Any ideas??

Im 14 and made this for my whole family tonight. it was a really good experience to gut the rabbit and cook it slowly. It was a unique experience and we all absolutely loved it!

<br /> Same as Tristan and Louis. Followed the recipe exactly and ended up with a bland watery mush. So disappointed as we invited people round for dinner and ended up ordering a takeaway! Oh well you live and you learn!!

Deeeeeelicious and made the entire house smell fantastic as it was cooking. Super healthy too and cheap - my rabbit cost £3! Loved picking through the bits, a unique cooking experience. Making a lasagne using the sauce is a great idea.

I made this two days ago and it turned out great. I put in at least a liter of water, but did cook it with the lid ajar for the last few hours. Consistency was great, and the rabbit tender, although it does end up stringy as you can sort of see from his photo. Because of this, I used it as a base for a lasagne, which was super tasty.

Has anyone tried this recipe using beef? My local butchers doesn't sell rabbit any more - says there is no demand for it!

Made it yesterday. Didn't follow the recipe, I made it from memory. It's turned out amazing, really flavorsome and the smell is mouth-watering. The rabbit is so tender, it literally fell of the bone.

reduced it down and it tasted great although a bit too mushy.I think the thing to do is only add as much liquid back as you need to get the correct consistency. it's not really clear from the tv program or the recipe what your'e supposed to do.

I had the same experience as louis - it came out extremely watery and was distinctly lacking in flavor. I'm going to try removing some of the water and adding more garlic and maybe some Worcester sauce tomorrow.

tried it, it came out really watery and soup like. used all the correct quantities. was i not supposed to pour all of the liquid back in? hopefully reduction will help but i am afraid it may just turn to mush!