Rabbit with Morels and Nettle-Ricotta Gnocchi
User Reviews
5
10 reviews
Excellent
-
Prep Time
2 hrs
-
Cook Time
1 hr 30 mins
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Total Time
3 hrs 30 mins
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Servings
6 people
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Calories
486 kcal
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
Italian
Rabbit with Morels and Nettle-Ricotta Gnocchi
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This recipe combines salt-cured rabbit pieces with earthier elements like morel mushrooms and spring vegetables, served alongside nettle and ricotta gnocchi. The gnocchi dough incorporates blanched nettles for color and flavor, along with ricotta and Parmesan, resulting in tender, herbaceous dumplings. The preparation involves salting the rabbit to season and then cooking it with morels, fiddlehead ferns, and garlic, creating a dish that balances savory protein with fresh and forest notes.
Description
For the Rabbit with Morels and Nettle-Ricotta Gnocchi, the rabbit is salted and rested to enhance flavor and moisture retention, then cooked with thyme and bay leaf in broth. The gnocchi is made by blanching nettles (or a substitute green), which are then finely chopped and processed with egg, salt, ricotta, Parmesan, nutmeg, and flour to form a soft dough. The morel mushrooms and fiddleheads are sautéed with garlic and finished with seasoning and optional lemon juice for brightness.
The combination of the tender, seasoned rabbit with the earthy morels and spring vegetables complements the creamy, delicate gnocchi richened by ricotta and Parmesan. This dish highlights seasonal ingredients and refined preparation techniques. It can serve as an elegant main course focusing on texture contrasts between soft gnocchi and the meaty rabbit with sautéed mushrooms.
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Ingredients
RABBIT
- 22 grams kosher salt (about 2 tablespoons) per pound of rabbit
- 1 rabbit cut into serving pieces
- 2 cups chicken rabbit or duck broth
- 1 thyme sprig, fresh
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 tablespoons walnut oil olive oil or melted butter
GNOCCHI
- 2 ounces nettles parsley or spinach, blanched
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 10 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese grated
- nutmeg a pinch
- 1 cup flour
MORELS
- 8 morel mushrooms cut into disks, fresh, to 12 ounces
- 3 tablespoons of the same oil you used with the rabbit
- 4 garlic sliced thin, cloves
- 8 ounces fiddleheads fava beans, fresh peas or asparagus
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- lemon juice (optional)
Instructions
- Toss the rabbit with the salt so all the pieces are well coated. Set aside in the fridge for 3 hours, while you make the gnocchi and such.
- Boil the nettles, parsley or spinach is a large pot of salty water: Boil nettles and spinach 2 minutes, parsley only 1 minute. Plunge into a big bowl of ice water, drain and squeeze to remove excess water. You want the greens to be damp, though. While you have the water boiling, boil the fiddleheads or whatever spring vegetable you're using: Boil fiddleheads 3 minutes, favas, peas or asparagus 2 minutes. Shock in the ice water, pat dry and set aside for now. Turn the heat off the water.
- Chop the nettles, then put them in a food processor with the salt, the egg and half the ricotta cheese. Blitz this for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. You want the fibers of the nettles to be well broken down. Put the contents of the food processor into a large bowl and add the rest of the ricotta, the parmesan cheese and the nutmeg. Stir in the flour bit by bit until you have a loose dough that you can just barely roll into a log. If you are not familiar with making gnocchi, you will need more than 1 cup. Put a towel over the dough as you make the gnocchi.
- Cut off 1/4 of the dough and roll it into a log about 1/2 inch thick on a work surface that you've dusted with flour. Cut off little pillows from the log. Carefully pick up each pillow -- this is a gnoccho -- and roll it off the tines of a fork held upside down to give it little ridges; you can skip this step if you are very new at gnocchi. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Set the finished gnocchi in the fridge for now.
- When the rabbit has brined for 3 hours, rinse it off and pat it dry. Find a medium pot that will just barely fit the rabbit and submerge the pieces in the broth. Add the sprig of thyme. If the broth doesn't cover the rabbit, add a little water. Cover the pot and simmer the rabbit until it starts to fall off the bone, about 90 minutes. When the rabbit is ready, pick the meat off the bones and coat in the walnut oil. Set aside.
- To finish the dish, get the blanching water hot again and keep it at a simmer. Put the morels in a large saute pan and set the heat to high. Soon the morels will steam and sizzle and give up their water. When they do, salt them. When most of the water is gone, add the walnut oil and saute the morels until they start to brown on the edges, about 3 to 6 minutes. Add the rabbit and the garlic -- and now's the time to start boiling your gnocchi. When the gnocchi go into the boiling water, add the fiddleheads to the pan with the morels. Saute just to get everything hot.
- When the gnocchi are ready, add them to the pan with everything else, toss to combine and add salt and black pepper to taste. Add the lemon juice if you want and serve at once.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Calories
486kcal
(24%)
Carbohydrates
23g
(8%)
Protein
52g
(104%)
Fat
20g
(31%)
Saturated Fat
6g
(30%)
Trans Fat
1g
(50%)
Cholesterol
194mg
(65%)
Sodium
2043mg
(85%)
Potassium
1012mg
(22%)
Fiber
2g
(8%)
Sugar
1g
(2%)
Vitamin A
1849IU
(37%)
Vitamin C
11mg
(12%)
Calcium
274mg
(27%)
Iron
10mg
(56%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 6people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 486 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 486kcal | 24% |
| Carbohydrates | 23g | 8% |
| Protein | 52g | 104% |
| Fat | 20g | 31% |
| Saturated Fat | 6g | 30% |
| Trans Fat | 1g | 50% |
| Cholesterol | 194mg | 65% |
| Sodium | 2043mg | 85% |
| Potassium | 1012mg | 22% |
| Fiber | 2g | 8% |
| Sugar | 1g | 2% |
| Vitamin A | 1849IU | 37% |
| Vitamin C | 11mg | 12% |
| Calcium | 274mg | 27% |
| Iron | 10mg | 56% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
10 reviews
Excellent
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