Hot on the heels of my British One Hundred, I wanted to cook something celebrating a favourite listed ingredient and one which I feel is seriously underrated – the rabbit. Why do we not eat them more often? Perhaps it is the cute factor putting people off? (OK, so baby rabbits are unbearably cute but I’m not asking you to eat them).

I’ve often heard people saying they don’t eat rabbit as it has ‘too many bones’. Well you don’t need to worry about that in this recipe, because the meat comes off the bone before it is layered into the lasagne and to be frank, I haven’t found this a problem anyway. The UK countryside is practically overrun with the little furry ones so there is a real need to keep the population down and, practicality aside, they taste bloomin’ fantastic, are lean, nutritious and cheap to boot.The rabbit I picked up today is an absolute monster, massive, humongous. It’s enough to feed a whole family or, to make a big ol’ lasagne.

The butcher also gave me some lamb bones for stock, which is simmering, spluttering and plop-plopping away on the stove as I write this post, the delicious scent wafting through every room and most likely out towards the neighbouring flats too. There is something deeply satisfying about making stock, it couldn’t be easier to chuck everything into a pot, cover with water and simmer and yet you are left with the most amazing base for so many dinners, soups, risottos, gravies etc. I like to roast the bones and vegetables before adding them to the pot as it gives a deeper, richer flavour but this is not necessary if you don’t have time.

I used some of this stock in the lasagne (use whatever you have available), which I combined with a good splash of white wine. The final rabbit sauce also gets a good hit of (amongst others) tomato, thyme and mushrooms (see below for note) – rich and deeply comforting. Each pasta layer is then cloaked in a dreamy sage-scented bechamel. Roll on autumn, I’m ready!

Rabbit Lasagne

[We ate the lasagne with some salad leaves from our balcony and some finely sliced fennel in a lemon-olive oil mix, which cuts through the richness of the lasagne]

1 large rabbit, jointed
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
100 ml white wine
1 generous sprig thyme
1 litre stock
2 bay leaves
1 generously heaped tablespoon tomato purée
1 small bunch parsley leaves, chopped
200g mushrooms, cut into chunks (I could only find oyster mushrooms and their flavour was a bit lost in this lasagne. I suggest using a more strongly flavoured fungus in your lasagne)
6 ripe tomatoes, de-seeded (and skinned if you like) and roughly chopped

For the sauce

400ml milk
50g butter
50g flour
Parmesan, grated (a good handful, or to taste)
2 tablespoons chopped sage
salt and pepper

Cheddar cheese, for grating
Lasagne sheets

- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F
- Heat some oil in a pan – 3-4 tablespoons (I like to use a roasting tray which I put directly onto the stove top and then transfer to the oven later). Add the rabbit pieces and cook on a high heat until browned on all sides. Remove the rabbit pieces and set aside.
- Add the onions, garlic to the pan and fry for a couple of minutes, stirring.
- Add the wine, tomatoes, bay leaves and thyme, cook for a minute, then add back the rabbit pieces. Add the stock, cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and set the rabbit pieces aside.
- Remove the thyme and bay leaves form the pan, then reduce until thickened by approximately half. During this time, shred the rabbit meat from the bones, then add back to the sauce along with the mushrooms and parsley.

For the bechamel

- Bring the milk to almost boiling then set aside.
- Melt the butter in a pan, then add the flour and stir vigorously to form a roux. Add a little of the milk at a time until all the milk is incorporated, stirring constantly.
- Add the parmesan and stir to combine before adding the sage and seasoning.

Assembly

- Turn the oven to 180C/350F
- Rabbit mixture, lasagne sheets, bechamel, rabbit mixture, lasagne, bechamel etc. Grated cheese on top. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Meat Stock Recipe

4 medium meat bones
1 carrot
1 stick celery, in quarters
1 onion, halved
2 juniper berries
4 peppercorns
Pinch salt
2 bay leaves

- Roast the bones and vegetables for 30-40 minutes in a 230C/450F oven.
- Remove and add to a stock pot along with 3 litres water, bring to the boil then simmer for 1.5-2 hours, removing the scum every now and then. Drain through a sieve. Cool and freeze until needed. It will keep for a month or so.

I have ended up with a huge bag of pumpkin seeds after making the watermelon and feta salad at the weekend. The seeds do have a creaminess about them (although not as much as a pine kernel) and they have a nice nutty edge. I experimented with a pumpkin seed pesto earlier this week with our harvest of lemon basil from the ‘kitchen garden’ (aka ‘pot on the roof’). It was okay, but I added too much garlic (2 cloves instead of my usual 1) and it needed a lot more basil. By the way, if you haven’t tried lemon basil, it tastes fantastic and it smells like an essential oil. I have found it very hard to grow, so any tips greatly appreciated. We ate the pesto simply with spaghetti but I made a note to self to make an improved version and to dollop it into a veggie lasagne.

Fresh pasta is something that I try to make every few months if I have the time. Yes, it does take longer but I find it so satisfying and well worth the effort for the improved texture and flavour. You can control the richness of the flavour too by adding extra eggs, or just extra yolks, as I believe is the proper method.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagne with Pumpkin Seed Pesto

For the pesto

A good handful pumpkin seeds
A good handful basil (not lemon this time)
1 small clove garlic
A good handful grated parmesan
Olive oil
Pepper

For the pasta

300g ’00′ Flour
3 eggs
1tsp salt

For the lasagne filling

3 small courgettes, diced
1 small aubergine, diced
2 red onions, diced
2 handfuls cherry tomatoes
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, diced

Small handful capers
Small handful Olives
Sliced mozzarella (as much as you dare)
Grated parmesan (not too much, it goes in the sauce too)

For the cheese sauce

1 pint milk
2 tablespoons grated parmesan
1 bay leaf
45 grams butter
40g plain flour

- Give the veg a nice coating of olive oil and seasoning and roast for around 30 minutes.
-Make a well in the flour and salt (either on a surface or in a bowl) and crack in the eggs. Gently incorporate until it is a soft but firm dough, adding a few drops of water if too dry and a sprinkle of flour if too sticky. Wrap in cling film and let rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.
-While the pasta is resting, make your pesto. If you have a mezzaluna then you are lucky. I don’t and I usually make my pesto in a pestle and mortar but I found the pumpkin seeds to be resistant to this kind of treatment and ended up pulsing it (very hesitantly) in the food processor.
- I add the garlic, basil and seeds first. Then remove from the processor, stir in a bit of oil to loosen it and add the cheese. Then I add more oil to reach the desired consistency and adjust the seasoning.
-For the cheese sauce, chuck everything apart from the cheese into a pan. bring up the heat until it thickens. Then remove from the heat and stir in the cheese.
-I use a pasta machine to roll out my pasta. I am assured that it is do-able by hand but I’ve never tried it.
-I layered the lasagne by starting with roasted vegetables, then a sprinkling of capers and olives, slabs of mozzarella, a flash of grated parmesan and dollops of pesto followed by pasta sheets and cheese sauce. I repeated this once more and finished with a slightly unreasonable amount of mozzarella, pesto dollops and grated parmesan on top.

I’m pleased to say that this turned out be wonderful despite the huge amount of bold flavours. I was sparing with the olives and capers but I couldn’t quite bring myself to leave them out altogether. I still think that they work, even with the pesto, and that fresh pasta made all the difference. I also experimented with leaving the pasta machine at number 5. This is too thick, although still delicious. The most pleasure to be had from this dish came the next day, when we ate it cold, with some crisp leaves dressed in olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper.

Serves 2 greedy people for 2 days or 6 people with sensible appetites for dinner.