Marcus Wareing’s Rabbit Pie

British Chef Marcus Wareing isn’t just an incredible chef and creator of this Rabbit pie recipe (scroll down for recipe), he’s also met Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller when he trained them for their movie Burnt.

As you can probably imagine, we have a fair few Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller fans in the house. And cooking, well, that’s kind of our thing. So, the word Burnt is on a lot of people’s lips at the Fresh Farm. But when Patrick heard that Marcus Wareing was the consulting chef on this film, that was the cherry on top. He’s especially chuffed at the moment because he got to meet Marcus, who he’s admired for years, and have a chat with him about Burnt.

If you aren’t familiar, the movie charts the journey of a man who’ll stop at nothing to create the most respected restaurant in the world and hearing Marcus talk about the very basic correlation between success and hard work, really resonated with Patrick.

As far as Marcus is concerned the gruelling work to become a top chef isn’t as bad as it’s cracked up to be. Having that sense of burning desire and purpose means that no matter what the kitchen throws at you, you’ll keep pushing towards your goal.

–  Patrick

So, check out our behind-the-scenes interview with Marcus to get the lowdown on Sienna’s spoon skills and Bradley being a natural in the kitchen.

Just as a treat, Marcus gave us this beautiful rabbit and prawn pie recipe. We’re smitten with it. You should give it a go, and if you can’t get rabbit, you can just use chicken. This is one of the dishes available at The Gilbert Scott in London – Marcus’s wonderful restaurant.

Marcus’s Prawn and Rabbit Pie Recipe

Marcus Wareing’s Rabbit and Prawn Pie

Ingredients

• • 20 raw prawns
  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 5 wild rabbit legs (if unavailable you can substitute chicken legs)
  • 50g plain flour
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely crushed
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 5 black peppercorns
  • 2 star anise
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/4 bunch of thyme
  • 1/2 bunch of tarragon, leaves picked from half of the sprigs and chopped
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 250ml white wine
  • 250ml chicken stock
  • leaves from 1/4 bunch of parsley, chopped
  • 1 tsp French mustard
  • 1 tbsp grain mustard
  • Salt
  • 50g plain flour
  • 50g unsalted butter
  • ½ tsp salt

  Pastry

  • 200g plain flour
  • 100g butter, cubed
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 50ml iced water, approximately, to bind

Instructions:

1. Peel the prawns and set aside; reserve the heads and shells. Heat a large, deep pan with 2 tbsp of the vegetable oil. Dust the rabbit legs with salt and the flour, then brown well all over in the hot oil. Remove and set aside.
2. Add the remaining oil to the pan, then sweat the onion until soft, without colouring. Add the prawn heads and shells, garlic, fennel seeds, peppercorns, star anise, bay leaves, thyme and bunch of tarragon sprigs. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and wine and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add half of the chicken stock and bring to the boil, then add the remaining stock and bring up to the boil again. Return the rabbit legs to the pan. Simmer for 1 hour, until the legs are cooked through.
3. Meanwhile, make the pastry. Combine the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and blitz until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Add just enough iced water to bind, blitzing briefly to combine. Wrap and leave to rest for half an hour in the fridge before rolling out.
4. Remove the rabbit legs from the cooking liquor and allow to cool slightly, then remove the meat from the bone, keeping it in good-size chunks. Set aside.
5. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing well on all the flavourings (if you have a good blender, blend half of the sauce, then mix it with the rest of the sauce before sieving). Heat the 50g butter in saucepan, when melted add the flour and mix well. Add a little of the cooking liquor, whisk well then add the remaining liquid. Simmer gently until the flour has cooked out then taste and adjust the seasoning, then finish with the chopped parsley and tarragon and the mustards. Add the prawns and rabbit chunks and mix well.
6. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to 4mm thick and cut to the required shape to make a lid for your pie dish or dishes. Spoon the filling into the pie dish(es). Brush the rim of the pie dish(es) with egg yolk, then place the pastry lid on top and press to the rim to seal.
7. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Brush the pastry lid with egg yolk & score. Cut a small hole in the centre for the steam to escape. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.