Hare, slow-cooked

1 hare, jointed, fillets removed and kept separate

Trim the fillets as described in the previous recipe.

2 cups red wine

4 waxy potatoes, sliced into quarters

3 carrots, sliced roughly

1 celery stick, sliced roughly

1 clove garlic, sliced finely

1 hot chilli, sliced roughly

1 walnut-sized piece of ginger, sliced finely

water to cover

250g tin of tomatoes

3 teaspoons salt pasta shapes

bunch of chives, chopped

salt black pepper

1

Brown the joints of the hare in a little oil. Remove and de-glaze with half the wine.

2

Put the lot into a stock pot – the potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, chilli, ginger and the rest of the red wine, and cover with the water. Add salt.

3

Bring to the boil, then turn down to a mere bubble.

4

Cook for about 2 hours until the hare is tender, and the carrots and potatoes are just done.

5

Allow to cool. Drain the stock, remove the hare joints, and pull the meat from the bones. Discard the bones. Set aside the vegetables.

6

Cook the tomatoes with a little salt, in the microwave, until thick.

7

Add the tomatoes to one cup of the hare stock and cook rapidly until it all comes together.

8

Add the hare and the vegetables to the tomato sauce and cook gently until all have heated through.

9

While the meat and vegetables are warming through, roast the hare fillets in a hot oven for 5-6 minutes, as above. They should be served rare, or they will be tough.

10

At the same time, cook the pasta.

11

Slice the hare fillets and add them to the tomato-based sauce with the rest of the vegetables and hare. Toss through the pasta and serve, well sprinkled with chives and black pepper.

WINE They certainly get great big hares in Coonawarra. Maybe it has got something to do with eating vines.As a regional treat, Coonawarra hare and red is hard to match. The longer you hang it, the bigger and richer you will need the red wine. The best hare catcher in Coonawarra is Demetry Zema. His 1988 Shiraz would slip down here very nicely indeed