DUKAI
Recipe BookPasta & Risotto

Pappardelle with White Rabbit Ragù

Pappardelle al Ragù Bianco di Coniglio

Slow-braised rabbit, white wine, rosemary, lemon and Parmigiano.

A white ragù, so the rabbit is never hard seared. It stays pale and elegant, and the finished sauce should be delicate and almost silky rather than a chunky stew.

Written for 1 refined portion

Cook this

The emulsification at the end is the critical step. Pasta, a splash of its water, butter, then the Parmigiano, and a few drops of lemon to finish.

Chef Paul Dukai

Ingredients

Serves 1

Rabbit ragù

  • Rabbit meat, bone-in for cooking, then picked120 g
  • Olive oil1 tsp
  • Butter10 g
  • Onion, very fine brunoise1 tbsp
  • Carrot, small, very fine brunoise0.5 each
  • Celery, stalk, very fine brunoise0.5 each
  • Garlic, clove, crushed0.5 each
  • Dry white wine80 ml
  • Light chicken stock80 ml
  • Rosemarya small sprig
  • Thymea small sprig
  • Lemon zesta strip

To finish

  • Fresh pappardelle80 g to 100 g
  • Butter10 g
  • Parmigiano Reggiano15 g
  • Lemon juicea few drops
  • Olive oilto finish
  • Salt and white pepperto taste

Method

The ragù

  1. Heat the olive oil and butter, and sweat the onion, carrot and celery very gently with no colour. Add the garlic briefly.

  2. Season the rabbit lightly and add it to the pan. Cook it gently with no hard sear: it should stay pale and elegant. Add the rosemary, thyme and lemon zest.

  3. Add the white wine and reduce it by half.

  4. Add the stock, cover partially, and simmer gently for 45 to 60 minutes until tender.

  5. Remove the rabbit, pick the meat finely and discard the bones. Return the meat to the sauce.

  6. Reduce slightly until lightly glossy, not thick, and remove the herbs and the zest.

Pasta and emulsification

  1. Boil the pappardelle in salted water and reserve some of the pasta water.

  2. Add the pasta to the ragù with a splash of pasta water.

  3. Add the butter and toss to emulsify.

  4. Add the Parmigiano Reggiano.

  5. Finish with a few drops of lemon juice and olive oil.

Chef’s notes

  • Variations, none of them part of the recipe as it stands: a spoon of rabbit jus reduction under the pasta for depth, a tiny knob of mascarpone folded in for silkiness, fried rosemary dust to finish, or a small dice of confit rabbit offal hidden in the sauce.

The finish

  1. Twist the pappardelle into a neat nest.
  2. Spoon the extra ragù over it.
  3. A fine grating of Parmigiano Reggiano.
  4. Micro herbs or thyme tips, and a touch of lemon zest if you want it.

Keeping

DUKAI storage guidance

The ragù keeps, the finished plate does not. Cool it quickly rather than leaving it on the pass: to below 21°C within about two hours, and to 5°C or below within a further four. At 5°C or below, use the ragù within 3 to 4 days or freeze it. Pasta is cooked and emulsified to order.

Allergens and diet

Gluten, from the pasta. Milk. Eggs, in fresh pasta. Sulphites, from the wine. Celery.

Also in the Recipe Book

Last refined · September 2026