Best Roast Rabbit With Stuffing Recipes

HONEY ROAST RABBIT

Steps:

• Rinse the rabbits and pat them dry with paper towels. Cut each one into three pieces; the hind legs, the front legs, and the loin. Cut the hind and front leg sections into 2 pieces each, leaving the loin in one piece. You should now have 5 sections per rabbit.
• Place the rabbit pieces in a large deep nonreactive bowl.
• In a small sauce pan over medium heat, reduce the orange juice to half a cup. In a small bowl, combine the pepper, fennel, saffron, cayenne, and salt. Add the reduced orange juice and the lemon juice, whisk together, and let stand for 10 or 15 minutes. Add the honey and mix together. Pour this mixture over the rabbit pieces, toss so that each one is evenly coated, and let sit at room temperature for about 1 hour, loosely covered. Toss the pieces every 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the rabbit from the marinade and place on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast the rabbit for 20 to 25 minutes, until done through with no trace of pink remaining. Baste once with the marinade halfway through the cooking time, then again when you remove the rabbit from the oven.
• Place the rabbit pieces on a platter and surround them with sprigs of watercress and wedges of lemon. Drain the onion slices briefly on paper towels, separate them into rings and scatter them over the top.

STUFFED RABBIT

Steps:

• Wash the rabbit with white wine vinegar.
• Soak the rabbit in salt and water for at least one hour.
• Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
• Pat dry the rabbit.
• Season inside and out with salt and pepper.
• Mix the sausage, oatmeal, celery, carrots, mushrooms, apple, egg, sage, rosemary, parsley and onions (optional cranberries) together in a mixing bowl. Stuff inside the cavity of the rabbit.
• Tie closed with cooking twine.
• Place rabbit in a casserole baking dish, surround with excess stuffing inside foil, add well-seasoned beef stock, bay leaf and cook for 1 3/4 hours, or until tender.
• Cut off twine and serve.

ROASTED BACON-WRAPPED RABBIT

Steps:

• Put everything except the bacon in a sealable plastic bag. Seal the bag, shake to distribute the seasonings and refrigerate for 8 to 24 hours.
• Thirty minutes before dinner, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Quickly rinse the spices off the rabbit with cold water. Blot the pieces completely dry with paper towels, then blot the bacon dry. Wrap each rabbit piece in a slice of bacon and place them seam-side down on a rimmed baking sheet or in a shallow roasting pan or a large ovenproof skillet. (The flat pieces below the rabbit's ribs, known as the flap, can be rolled up and then wrapped.) Roast until the bacon crisps and the rabbit is no longer pink, 25 to 30 minutes. It is impossible to imagine this as anything other than finger food (maybe with some roasted potatoes).

ROASTED RABBIT FOR A SUNDAY DINNER

Steps:

• If rabbit is not already prepared, wash it and trim away any skin and unwanted parts. Most rabbits come with the kidneys and other organs, regardless of whether they are prepared. Reserve these.
• Mix sausage meat and breadcrumbs together, kneading in the rosemary. Stuff the chest cavity of the rabbit with the stuffing, and continue down the torso, leaving a firm mound of stuffing from chest-groin.
• Wrap bacon rashers around rabbit, securing at the back with toothpicks, to seal stuffing inches.
• Roast rabbit on a medium/low heat for 1 hour, turning from one side to the other regularly and basting with any leaked juices.
• Meanwhile, boil potatoes in lightly salted water until firm, but starchy on the outide. Drain.
• Remove rabbit from roasting tray and set aside. Add lard to tray - once melted, toss in the pearl onions (whole), the carrots (roughly chopped into large pieces) and the potatoes. Toss vegetables in meat juices and lard, then replace rabbit on top. Roast a further 30 minutes, spooning over the hot lard as required, or until onions begin to blacken and potatoes turn golden and crisp.
• Using a slotted spoon, remove and set aside the rabbit and vegetables, allowing each spoonful to drain any juices back into the roasting pan.
• Pour stock into pan and scrape the bottom to lift up any stuck pieces of meat or vegetable, and to thoroughly combine the stock with the juices.
• Pour mixed stock and juice into a pot, adding a sprig of rosemary and the reserved rabbit organs. Place rabbit and vegetables back in over on a very low setting to keep warm.
• When stock reaches a rolling boil, mix the teaspoon of flour with a little water to form a paste, and add to the stock. Once thick and rich, taste and season to preference. Strain stock to remove organs and rosemary.
• Serve rabbit, surrounded with the roasted vegetables, and with the stock offered on the side as a gravy. Goes beautifully with redcurrant jelly.