P
Italian · Maremma
Pappardelle al Ragù di Lepre della Maremma
The Maremma's hare ragù — wide, rough-edged egg pasta strips dressed with a slow-cooked wild hare ragù in Morellino di Scansano red wine. The hare (lepre) of the Maremma's coastal scrubland and marshes is wilder and more intensely flavoured than farmed rabbit — its dark meat, marbled with the fat of a wild-living animal, produces a ragù of extraordinary depth after 3 hours of gentle braising. The wide pappardelle width is specifically designed to maximise sauce-contact per bite.
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
For the marinade
1 (whole, jointed)
Wild hare (lepre selvatica)
jointed; liver reserved separately if present
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
750 ml
Morellino di Scansano DOCG
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
6
Juniper berries
lightly crushed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 sprigs
Fresh rosemary
Your own market
4 leaves
Fresh sage
Your own market
For the ragù
1 strip
Orange zest
pared with no pith
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
Black Maremma olive paste
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
250 ml
Morellino di Scansano DOCG
additional, for braising
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 (reserved)
Hare liver
if available; held back until final 10 minutes
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the pappardelle
400 g
Soft wheat flour (tipo 00)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
4
Eggs
whole
Your own market
to taste
Fine salt
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Place the jointed hare in a non-reactive vessel and pour over 750 ml Morellino di Scansano, then add the juniper berries, rosemary, and sage. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, so the wine works into the dense, dark muscle fibres and draws out the livery edge that would otherwise dominate the finished sauce. The marinade is done when the flesh has deepened in colour throughout and the wine has visibly penetrated the meat.
2
Lift the hare pieces from the marinade and pat them thoroughly dry, so the surface is free of liquid and will colour rather than steam in the pan. Strain the marinade liquid in full and set it aside; discard the spent aromatics, which have given everything they have and would turn bitter in the long braise.
3
In a wide heavy pot, brown the hare pieces over high heat until the exterior is deeply coloured on all sides, working in batches if necessary so the pan stays hot enough to colour rather than stew the meat. This is where the dish lives or dies: insufficient browning will not generate the depth of flavour that carries a 3-hour braise — the surface must be dark, not merely golden, and the fond on the pan base must be richly coloured before any liquid is added.
4
Deglaze with the additional 250 ml of Morellino, scraping the fond completely so that concentrated caramelised residue dissolves back into the sauce rather than being lost. Pour in the strained marinade, add the strip of orange zest and the tablespoon of black olive paste, then bring to a bare simmer — the surface should tremble, not boil — so the collagen in the hare releases slowly and the sauce becomes dense and glossy rather than tight and grainy. Braise, covered, for 2 hours 50 minutes; the ragù is approaching readiness when the meat yields completely at the joint and the liquid has reduced to a coating consistency.
5
If the hare liver is available, add it whole 10 minutes before the braise ends, so it has time to cook through and then dissolve into the sauce, lending a mineral richness that lifts the whole pot without announcing itself as liver. At the end of 3 hours total, lift the hare pieces, strip all meat cleanly from the bone, and return the shredded meat to the pot. The finished ragù should coat a spoon heavily and carry a deep burgundy colour with no excess liquid pooling at the surface.
6
Make the pappardelle: combine the flour and eggs to a firm dough, rest it for 30 minutes so the gluten relaxes and the dough rolls without springing back, then roll to approximately 2 mm thickness and cut strips of minimum 3 cm width, ideally 4 cm. Cook in well-salted boiling water until tender with no raw-flour resistance at the centre but still carrying a perceptible body — fresh pappardelle of this thickness will require 3–4 minutes.
7
Drain the pappardelle, reserving a ladleful of pasta water, then toss immediately in the ragù over low heat so the sauce clings to each strip while it is still hot and receptive. Add pasta water by the spoonful if required to bring the sauce to a consistency that coats every ribbon without pooling in the bowl. Serve at once.
From the canon — Pasta cooking water contains dissolved starch (released from the pasta surface during boiling) at a concentration that increases with pasta-to-water ratio an… Pasta Water: Starch Concentration and Sauce Binding →
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Wild-shot Maremma lepre selvatica in season, liver intact; Morellino di Scansano DOCG from a single-estate producer; hand-rolled pappardelle cut at 4 cm.
02
Estate — Wild hare from a known supplier with liver available; a reliable Morellino DOCG; hand-rolled pasta at 3–4 cm.
03
Market — Wild hare sourced through a game butcher, liver uncertain; a sound Sangiovese-dominant Tuscan red in place of Morellino; hand-cut fresh pappardelle at minimum 3 cm.
04
House — Wild hare without liver; a robust Tuscan red wine; dried wide egg pappardelle of no less than 3 cm — never narrow pasta, never rabbit.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. After 24 hours the hare flesh is visibly darkened and the wine has penetrated the muscle throughout.
◇Smell. The browning stage is complete when the pot carries a deep, roasted game aroma and the pan fond is richly coloured.
◇Touch. After 3 hours the meat yields entirely under light pressure and separates from bone without resistance.
◇Sight. The finished ragù coats the back of a spoon heavily with no free liquid pooling at the surface.
◇Sight. At the table, each pappardelle strip carries an even, clinging coat of ragù with no sauce collecting in the bowl.
◇Where it lives or dies. The browning of the hare cannot be rushed or moderated: a pale, under-coloured surface will not sustain the depth required across three hours of braising.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Fortified wine
From British Columbia
Spirits gin
Without alcohol
No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year