The hare in salmì is a main course among the classics of game recipes. The recipe that follows was given to me by my aunt Teresa, who often cooked hare hunted during the season by my cousin. This dish is ideal to be enjoyed with yellow cornmeal polenta or in a more refined version like the white one. The hare is marinated in red wine, in this case I used a Barbera from Piedmont, together with vegetables such as celery, carrots, onion, and herbs (cloves, juniper berries, and bay leaves) then slowly cooked in the delicious and flavorful sauce with the addition of tomato pulp.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 8 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 2 people
- Cooking methods: Slow cooking, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 1.1 lbs hare (cleaned, boneless, in pieces)
- 14 oz tomato pulp
- 1 cup celery
- 1 cup carrots
- 1 cup yellow onion
- 2 cups Barbera wine
- 6 cloves
- to taste bay leaves
- to taste juniper
- to taste all-purpose flour
- to taste water
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste fine salt
- to taste black pepper
Tools
- Kitchen scale
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Peeler
- Basin
- Plastic wrap
- Pan
- Paper towels
- Fork
- 2 Plates
- Small pot
- Wooden spoon
- Food processor
Preparation
To prepare the hare in salmì…
Take the hare already gutted, boned, and cut into pieces and rinse it well under cold running water. Alternatively, if it’s freshly slaughtered or fresh, place it in a basin under running water for about 2 hours, changing the water from time to time until it is clear.
After washing it, put it in a basin with the peeled and coarsely chopped carrots, the celery also washed, de-threaded, de-leaved, and chopped, and finally the peeled onion, chopped into pieces into which you have inserted the cloves.
Add the Barbera wine, bay leaves, juniper berries, and cover the basin with plastic wrap. Then place the hare in the refrigerator for the whole night or at least 8 hours before cooking it.
After all night the meat marinates, remove the pieces of hare from the basin with the wine and vegetables, don’t throw them away, you will use these for cooking. Dry the hare well with paper towels and flour it in a plate with flour.
Then take a large pan, preferably non-stick, pour in the extra virgin olive oil, and when it’s hot, place the floured pieces of hare, browning them for about 10 minutes over high heat, turning them on each side. When the hare is golden, remove it from the pan and set it aside on a plate.
In the same pan where you browned the hare, pour the vegetables, herbs, and wine you saved from the marinade. Add the tomato pulp and the browned pieces of hare. Begin to cook the hare over medium heat for about 1 hour over medium flame, occasionally turning the pieces and stirring the sauce with a wooden spoon.
Separately in a small pot, heat the water, this will be used to thin the sauce during the cooking of the hare if it thickens too much.
After the hour of cooking the meat, check the degree of cooking by piercing it with a fork, it should be tender and easy to cut. If not, continue for a few more minutes.
Then remove the pieces of meat, place them on a plate, transfer the sauce with the vegetables and herbs into a food processor with blades or a chopper, and blend the sauce until it’s fine but not too much.
Pour the sauce back into the pan with the hare, slightly reheat everything for a few minutes, and serve the hare in salmì hot.
Notes
In this recipe, I used thawed hare meat, already cleaned, deprived of entrails and bones. If using fresh meat, the preparation will be longer, as it will need to be thoroughly cleaned before it can be marinated.
You might be interested in…
Pentole Agnelli ALSA110S32 Pan with Handles, Non-stick Aluminum, Silver, 32 cm
