Mustard Rabbit & Tagliatelle

📝 Ingredients

• 4 rabbit legs (about 250 g each)
• 4 tbsp wholegrain mustard (3 for brushing, 1 for the sauce)
• 4 shallots
• 1 tbsp olive oil + 10 g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp plain wheat flour
• 1 chicken stock cube + 400 ml hot water
• 150 ml light single cream, 12% fat
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme + 1 bay leaf
• 300 g dried tagliatelle
• 10 g fresh parsley
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Flameproof casserole dish with lid
• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Pastry brush
• Wooden spoon

📖 Steps

1. Take the rabbit legs out of the fridge 15 min beforehand. Pat them dry, season with salt and pepper, then brush them all over with 3 tbsp mustard. Peel and thinly slice the shallots. Dissolve the stock cube in the hot water.
2. Heat the oil and butter in the casserole dish over a medium heat. Brown the legs for 4 min on each side until well coloured. Don't turn up the heat: the mustard burns quickly and would turn bitter. Set the legs aside on a plate.
3. In the same casserole dish, sweat the shallots for 3 min over a low heat, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon, until translucent. Sprinkle with the flour and stir for 1 min to cook it without letting it colour.
4. Pour in the stock a little at a time, stirring to avoid lumps. Return the rabbit with its juices, the thyme and the bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, cover and leave to simmer gently for 45 min over a low heat, turning the legs halfway through: the meat should come away easily from the bone.
5. About 15 min before the end of the simmering time, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cook the tagliatelle for the time stated on the packet, stirring at the start so they don't stick, then drain, keeping back a small ladleful of the cooking water.
6. Remove the legs, thyme and bay leaf, and keep the meat warm under a sheet of foil. Reduce the sauce, uncovered, for 8 min over a medium-high heat, stirring from time to time, until about half remains.
7. Add the cream and the last spoonful of mustard, then simmer gently for 2 min without boiling hard, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Adjust the salt and pepper, then return the legs to the sauce to coat them well.
8. Toss the tagliatelle with a few spoonfuls of sauce, adding a little cooking water if they stick together. Divide between the plates, place one leg per person on top, spoon over the rest of the sauce and sprinkle with chopped parsley.