An elaborate but not difficult dish to dispel the notion that you need who knows what occasion to uncork a Barolo. We pair it, in fact, with Barolo Cannubi 2019 Marchesi di Barolo.
Ingredients for 4 persons:
1/2 (large) rabbit complete with liver; 1 medium onion; 1 small carrot; 1 large celery rib; 1 clove of garlic; a few rosemary leaves; 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1 scant glass of robust red wine (best if using matching Barolo); 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 450 g fresh egg fettuccine (or 300 g dry); grated parmesan; salt and pepper.
Directions:
Clean the onion, carrot and celery and chop them very finely along with the garlic clove and rosemary leaves.
Divide the rabbit into four pieces, wash it, dry it and put it in a heavy-bottomed pan after lightly salting it. Close it with the lid and, keeping the flame to a minimum, let it “throw off the water” by keeping it on the fire about ten minutes (this operation must be done with adult rabbits and therefore suitable for stewing because they lose their wild flavor while it is useless if you cook young specimens). Drain it.
Rinse the pan, heat the oil and pour in the vegetable mix (onion, carrot and celery). As soon as this begins to sauté, add the rabbit pieces and slowly brown everything so that the vegetables and meat brown at the same time taking on a nice golden color.
Add salt and pepper. When the sauté is dry, douse with wine and raise the flame.
When the wine has faded, add the tomato paste diluted in half a cup of hot water and continue cooking for a good hour until the rabbit is well cooked, adding a few tablespoons of hot stock as the sauce dries out.
About ten minutes before the end of cooking, rinse the rabbit liver, dry it, chop it very finely and mix it with the sauce along with some of the rabbit meat also chopped.
When everything is ready, cook the pasta, drain it without drying it too much, and pour it into a deep serving dish that has been previously heated.
Season with the sauce, sprinkle with cheese (if you like), mix well and serve piping hot. Here is our Fettuccine with rabbit ragout ready.
Wine pairing:
(Edited by Stefania Vinciguerra)
Barolo Cannubi 2019 Marchesi di Barolo
Ruby red with garnet highlights. Balsamic and fruity bouquet, with notes of small dehydrated red fruits, goji berries, rose petals and sweet spices. Taste shows a structured body, full sip with dense, velvety tannins. Long finish with spicy hints.
Production area: Cannubi is the prestigious long and gradually rising hill located in the center of the Barolo appellation. The soils, from the Serravallian and Tortonian periods, are predominantly clay-limestone, characterized by the conspicuous presence of Marne di Sant’Agata. These particular soils give the wine unique characteristics in terms of structure, finesse, elegance and longevity.
Grape varieties: 100% Nebbiolo.
Harvest: Delayed towards the middle of October. The grapes are strictly hand-picked, and already in the vineyard a selection of the best bunches is made. L’2019 vintage will be remembered for developing much longer than the previous two vintages. Prolonged winter, frequent rains and low temperatures in the spring months confirmed a postponement of about 2 weeks compared to the growing cycle of recent years. ‘Summer, on the other hand, continued steadily with temperatures high but never above average.
Production processes:
Arriving at the winery, the grapes are selectively destemmed and gently crushed. Alcoholic fermentation takes place at a controlled temperature: a range of 24-26°C is maintained to preserve all the aromatic potential characteristic of the specific terroir. Through repeated delestage and pumping over, a 15-18 day maceration is carried out aimed at the gradual and maximum extraction of the noble polyphenolic part of the skins. After racking, the wine begins a period of clarification and rest in vitrified cement tanks, and then continues maturation in wood.
Evolution lasts about two years. During the first year the wine matures in barriques, with the aim of fixing the color and increasing the aging potential; the percentage of new wood is perfectly balanced to maintain the identity characteristics of this Cru. The second year the wine ages in large Slavonian oak barrels in which the characteristics of finesse and elegance are enhanced. The full expression of the wine is obtained after a period of at least 1 year of rest in the bottle.
Alcohol content: 14.5% vol.
Serving temperature: 18°C.
Recommended pairings: It is a perfect accompaniment to traditional Langhe egg pasta, Tajarin, meat ravioli, red meat dishes, boiled and braised meats and game. It is an ideal companion to sheep and goat tomes and aged hard cheeses.
THIS RECIPE IS OFFERED BY MARCHESI DI BAROLO