Hare Pie - Pasticcio di Lepre
A hare pie recipe from Artusi, who begins pithily: "Those who lack a good pair of arms had best give this pie a wide berth, as the dryness of the meats involved, combined with their boniness, require a daunting amount of effort to extract all the flavor possible. Without it, the results wouldn't be worthwhile. What I will describe below was prepared in my presence, using the following ingredients; if you feel you must adjust them, you'd be better off passing upon the recipe and thus saving your money."
See Also
Other Tuscan Christmas recipes
After washing and drying the hare, trim off 3 ounces of meat and set it aside. Then remove the bones from the meat, crush them, and set them aside too. Cut the hare into large pieces and set it to marinate with the three ounces that had been previously removed in a cup of the Marsala, with the following herbs, coarsely chopped: a quarter of a large onion, a half a carrot, a palm length rib of celery, several stalks of parsley, and two laurel leaves.
Season the meat with salt and pepper, and let it marinate for several hours. Meantime, trim the fat and gristle from the veal, mince it with a knife, and grind it as finely as possible in a mortar.
Drain the hare and set it, with the bones, the herbs mentioned, the diced prosciutto fat, and two tablespoons of the butter, over a medium flame in a covered casserole. Stir it frequently as it browns, sprinkling it with the Marsala (including that used in the marinade), and, if need be, broth, to keep it from drying out as it cooks. When it's done, separate the meat from the bones. Take the three ounce piece, the thick slice of prosciutto, and the tongue, and cut them into sticks a half a finger wide.
Grind the remaining hare meat in the mortar, dampening it from time to time with either Marsala or broth so it forms a not-too-liquid paste, and put the paste through a strainer. Then mash the bones, and press as much of them as possible through the strainer; be forewarned that the strainer must be made with wire mesh (as opposed to horsehair, which was also used for strainers in Artusi's day).
Now, make a bechamel sauce with 2 tablespoons of the butter, the flour, and the milk (see instructions if need be), and, when it's cooked, mix it into the bowl containing the veal and the hare. Stir in the two eggs and taste the mixture, both for seasoning and to decide if the rest of the butter should be added to it.
It is now time to think about the dough: You can use puff pastry, or a crust made with the ingredients listed above.
Combine the ingredients, using a pastry cutter and taking care to handle the dough as little as possible. When it is formed, chill it briefly. Next, take one of those molds made specially for this type of pie, in other words a round or oval ribbed spring mold made of steel, grease it with butter, and set it on a copper pie pan, which should also be greased (Artusi envisions a bottomless mold). Roll the dough out till it's a little more than an eighth of an inch thick, and line the mold with it. Start with a layer of the ground mixture. Next, lay out some of the meat strips and the truffles, then put down another layer of the mixture, and so on. Tamp down the stuffing so that the pie will come out solid, lay the ounce of finely sliced prosciutto over it, and cover it with another sheet of pie crust. Decorate the top crust with filets of dough, and cut a hole in the middle, so that water vapor can escape. Paint the pie with an egg yolk and bake it in the oven at 425 F (210 C) for ten minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 F (175 C) and continue baking it for about 35 minutes. Once it's done, cover the vent hole with a small piece of crust which you will have rolled out and baked separately.
Following this basic method you can also make game pies, using, for example, boar, venison, and mountain goat. This pie should be sufficient as part of a meal for as many as twenty people. (It's rich enough that a small taste for each diner will be sufficient.)
See Also
Other Tuscan Christmas recipes
Ingredients
- The Filling:
- A half a hare, less head and feet; weight 2 1/4 pounds (1 k)
- 1/2 pound (225 g) milk-fed veal
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3 ounces (80 g) salt tongue (get this from a good delicatessen)
- 3 ounces (80 g) prosciutto fat
- A quarter-inch thick slice of prosciutto, weighing 2 ounces (60 g)
- An ounce (30 g) of finely sliced prosciutto
- 2 ounces (60 g) black truffles, finely diced
- 3 tablespoons flour, for bechamel sauce
- 1 1/2 cups marsala
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- Broth as necessary
- --
- The Crust:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2 teaspoons aquavit
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 yolks
- The juice of a lemon slice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Cold water, if necessary
- Prep Time: 120 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 180 minutes
Preparation
After washing and drying the hare, trim off 3 ounces of meat and set it aside. Then remove the bones from the meat, crush them, and set them aside too. Cut the hare into large pieces and set it to marinate with the three ounces that had been previously removed in a cup of the Marsala, with the following herbs, coarsely chopped: a quarter of a large onion, a half a carrot, a palm length rib of celery, several stalks of parsley, and two laurel leaves.
Season the meat with salt and pepper, and let it marinate for several hours. Meantime, trim the fat and gristle from the veal, mince it with a knife, and grind it as finely as possible in a mortar.
Drain the hare and set it, with the bones, the herbs mentioned, the diced prosciutto fat, and two tablespoons of the butter, over a medium flame in a covered casserole. Stir it frequently as it browns, sprinkling it with the Marsala (including that used in the marinade), and, if need be, broth, to keep it from drying out as it cooks. When it's done, separate the meat from the bones. Take the three ounce piece, the thick slice of prosciutto, and the tongue, and cut them into sticks a half a finger wide.
Grind the remaining hare meat in the mortar, dampening it from time to time with either Marsala or broth so it forms a not-too-liquid paste, and put the paste through a strainer. Then mash the bones, and press as much of them as possible through the strainer; be forewarned that the strainer must be made with wire mesh (as opposed to horsehair, which was also used for strainers in Artusi's day).
Now, make a bechamel sauce with 2 tablespoons of the butter, the flour, and the milk (see instructions if need be), and, when it's cooked, mix it into the bowl containing the veal and the hare. Stir in the two eggs and taste the mixture, both for seasoning and to decide if the rest of the butter should be added to it.
It is now time to think about the dough: You can use puff pastry, or a crust made with the ingredients listed above.
Combine the ingredients, using a pastry cutter and taking care to handle the dough as little as possible. When it is formed, chill it briefly. Next, take one of those molds made specially for this type of pie, in other words a round or oval ribbed spring mold made of steel, grease it with butter, and set it on a copper pie pan, which should also be greased (Artusi envisions a bottomless mold). Roll the dough out till it's a little more than an eighth of an inch thick, and line the mold with it. Start with a layer of the ground mixture. Next, lay out some of the meat strips and the truffles, then put down another layer of the mixture, and so on. Tamp down the stuffing so that the pie will come out solid, lay the ounce of finely sliced prosciutto over it, and cover it with another sheet of pie crust. Decorate the top crust with filets of dough, and cut a hole in the middle, so that water vapor can escape. Paint the pie with an egg yolk and bake it in the oven at 425 F (210 C) for ten minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 F (175 C) and continue baking it for about 35 minutes. Once it's done, cover the vent hole with a small piece of crust which you will have rolled out and baked separately.
Following this basic method you can also make game pies, using, for example, boar, venison, and mountain goat. This pie should be sufficient as part of a meal for as many as twenty people. (It's rich enough that a small taste for each diner will be sufficient.)