P
Italian · Tuscany
Pappardelle al Sugo di Lepre alla Toscana
The autumn pasta of the Tuscan hunting season: wide, rough-edged egg pappardelle with a slow-braised hare ragù. The whole hare is marinaded overnight in Chianti Classico with juniper, bay, and rosemary, then jointed and braised 2.5 hours in the marinade until the meat falls from the bone. The meat is shredded and returned to the reduced braising liquor. The sauce is wine-dark, gamey, deeply complex — nothing like a beef ragù. Pappardelle are the only suitable pasta form: wide enough to carry the weight of the sauce.
I
The Market List
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For the marinade
1 (whole)
hare
jointed; liver and heart reserved separately
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
750 ml
Chianti Classico
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 (medium)
carrot
roughly chopped
Your own market
2 (stalks)
celery
roughly chopped
Your own market
1 (medium)
onion
roughly chopped
Your own market
6 (berries)
juniper berries
lightly crushed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 (leaves)
bay leaves
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 (sprig)
rosemary
Your own market
For the ragù
60 g
lard
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
dark chocolate
finely grated; added in last 10 minutes (Dolceforte technique)
Your own market
For the pasta
400 g
pappardelle
wide, rough-edged egg pasta; fresh or dried
Origin · United StatesNot yet stocked in British Columbia
II
The Method
1
Place the hare joints in a deep non-reactive vessel with the Chianti Classico, carrot, celery, onion, juniper, bay, and rosemary, pressing the joints beneath the wine so that the flesh is fully submerged and draws the wine and aromatics inward rather than steeping only at its surfaces. Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 12 hours. The marinade is complete when the flesh has darkened at its surfaces and the liquor smells of game, wine, and herbs in equal measure.
2
Lift the hare joints from the marinade and pat each piece thoroughly dry with cloth, so the surface sears rather than steams in the pan and a proper mahogany crust can form. Strain the marinade through a fine sieve and reserve the liquid and aromatics separately; set a wide, heavy braising vessel over the highest heat and melt the lard until it shimmers and begins to haze. Brown the hare joints in batches — never crowding the pan — turning once, and remove each piece when its surface releases from the pan without resistance and has taken on a deep mahogany colour.
3
This is where the dish lives or dies. Return all browned joints to the pan, add the reserved marinade aromatics, then begin adding the strained marinade in stages — one ladleful at a time, allowing each addition to bubble and reduce before the next is poured — so the wine loses its raw, sharp edge gradually and knits with the fat and meat juices rather than drowning them. Added all at once, the wine remains harsh and never integrates. Continue until the liquor smells rounded and deeply winey, with no bite of raw alcohol.
4
Add the remaining marinade, bring to a gentle simmer, and cover; braise over the lowest possible heat for a minimum of 2.5 hours, turning the joints once at the midpoint so they colour and absorb the liquor evenly on both sides. The braise is complete when the meat yields at a touch — press a joint with a finger and the flesh parts from the bone without resistance.
5
Lift the joints clear, allow them to cool briefly, then pull the meat from the bones with two forks or by hand into rough pieces, discarding the bones. Add the reserved liver and heart to the braising liquor and simmer for 15 minutes, then chop them finely and return them with the shredded meat, so their richness thickens the sauce from within rather than sitting apart. Grate the dark chocolate directly into the sauce and stir through for 10 minutes, then reduce uncovered until the sauce coats the back of a spoon thickly, the surface is glossy, and the colour is wine-dark.
6
Cook the pappardelle in well-salted boiling water until al dente, then drain, reserving a cup of pasta water. Toss the pappardelle in the ragù over low heat, loosening with pasta water only if needed, so the starch in the water binds the sauce to each ribbon rather than thinning it. The dish is ready when each ribbon is evenly coated and the sauce clings without pooling at the base of the pan.
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 — A wild hare taken in the Chianti or Maremma hunting season, with liver and heart intact; Chianti Classico Riserva for the marinade; fresh egg pappardelle hand-rolled and cut wide.
02
Estate — A whole farmed hare from a specialist butcher; a sound Chianti Classico; fresh egg pappardelle from a good pasta maker.
03
Market — A jointed hare from a farmers' market game stall; any robust Tuscan red; dried egg pappardelle of good manufacture.
04
House — Frozen hare portions fully thawed; a dry red wine of structure; the widest dried egg pasta available — pappardelle above all others; rabbit is not a substitute.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Smell. After 12 hours the marinade liquor carries game, wine, and aromatic herbs in equal balance — no single note dominates.
◇Sight. Browned joints are deep mahogany on all surfaces and lift cleanly from the pan without tearing.
◇Smell. The staged marinade additions have lost all raw alcohol sharpness; the liquor smells rounded and integrated before the full braise begins.
◇Touch. After 2.5 hours the braised meat yields at a fingertip press and falls from the bone without force.
◇Sight. The finished ragù coats the back of a spoon thickly, its surface glossy and wine-dark, with no watery pooling.
◇Where it lives or dies. The marinade must be added to the braise in stages, not all at once — added in a single pour, it never loses its sharp edge and the sauce remains discordant to the last.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Fortified wine
From British Columbia
Spirits gin
Without alcohol
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