Rabbit in cream sauce with root vegetables: tender meat falls off the bone

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Prepare the meat

   10 min

   Pat the rabbit pieces dry with paper towels, season with salt, and coat with mustard. Cut the onion into wedges. Peel the carrots, parsley root, and celery root and cut into thick slices.

2. Brown the meat

   15 min

   Heat the oil in a wide pot and brown the rabbit pieces on both sides until golden. Transfer to a plate.

3. Sauté the vegetables

   10 min

   Sauté the onion in the same fat, then add the root vegetables and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables brown around the edges.

4. Braise the rabbit

   1 hr 30 min

   Return the meat to the pot, add the bay leaves, allspice berries, and black peppercorns, and pour in the broth. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour 30 minutes, until the meat begins to pull away from the bone. Add a little more broth if needed.

5. Finish the sauce

   15 min

   Remove the meat and keep warm. Fish out the bay leaves, allspice berries, and peppercorns, then blend the vegetables and cooking juices until smooth.

   Whisk the cream with the flour, pour into the sauce, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring. Season with salt and lemon juice. Return the meat to the sauce and heat through. Serve with steamed yeast bread dumplings or halušky, small Slovak dumplings.

Tip: You can prepare the rabbit a day ahead; the meat reheats well in the sauce, and the flavors will meld further. When cutting it into pieces, watch out for small bones in the back and ribs.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Králik na smotane s koreňovou zeleninou: mäkké mäso sa samo púšťa od kosti