Chef Isabel
Abanico Ibérico a la Plancha
Extremadura's dehesa gives us this fan-shaped, marbled rib cut: salt it at the last moment, lay it on a fierce plancha, and count in seconds so the centre stays juicy.
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Conejo a la Cazadora Manchego
Created by
La Mancha's rabbit is browned and braised with white wine, mushrooms, and a slow tomato-onion sofrito. Cook that base until dark, sweet, and nearly dry, and the sauce takes care of itself.
Main Dishes
Spanish
Comfort Food
One Pot
Weeknight
20 min
Active Time
1 hr 30 min cook•1 hr 50 min total
Yield4 servings
La Mancha's conejo a la cazadora is rabbit browned and braised in dry white wine over onion, garlic, and tomato, with mushrooms and thyme from the monte, the scrubby hunting country. It isn't conejo al ajillo, where garlic leads. Here the cazadora sauce must be deep enough to cling to the meat, with browned mushrooms carrying the earthy side of the dish.
The sofrito decides it. Cook the onion low until it goes dark gold and jammy, then reduce the tomato until almost no water remains and the oil shows again at the edges. That slow cooking builds the sweetness beneath the wine. Turn up the heat to hurry it and you get pale onion, wet tomato, and a sauce that never quite becomes itself.
If rabbit is difficult to find where you are, use 1.4kg of bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks. A Spanish home kitchen would make that change without ceremony. The sauce remains right, but chicken is richer and softer, without rabbit's lean, faintly sweet taste; begin checking it after 30 minutes of braising. Ordinary cultivated brown mushrooms can stand in for seasonal field mushrooms, though the sauce loses a little of its woodland perfume.
Keep the simmer gentle and let the finished casserole rest before serving. The meat relaxes, the sauce settles, and supper becomes easier than it looked at the beginning. The Margin beside this recipe says only, "el sofrito sin prisa," don't hurry the sofrito. Follow that and the rest behaves.
Across the Montes de Toledo and the wider hunting country of Castilla-La Mancha, rabbit and hare supplied rural tables with small game that could be stretched in a wine-and-tomato braise. A la cazadora names a household family of hunter-style preparations rather than one fixed sauce, so thyme, bay, garlic, and wine stay constant while the exact additions change from house to house. Mushrooms mark many Manchegan versions, but because they followed the rains and were never always available, other homes made the same dish with tomato, wine, and herbs alone.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
farmed rabbit
Quantity
1, about 1.4kg
cut into 8 serving pieces
fine sea salt
Quantity
15g
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
2g
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
75ml
divided
brown or white mushrooms
Quantity
300g
cleaned and quartered
onion
Quantity
300g
finely chopped
garlic
Quantity
15g
finely chopped
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
350g
grated; use 300g crushed canned whole tomatoes when fresh ones are poor
sweet pimentón
Quantity
2g
dry white wine, preferably Airén
Quantity
250ml
hot water or unsalted light chicken stock
Quantity
300ml
bay leaf
Quantity
1
thyme
Quantity
4 sprigs
or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
10g
finely chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| farmed rabbitcut into 8 serving pieces | 1, about 1.4kg |
| fine sea saltdivided | 15g |
| freshly ground black pepper | 2g |
| extra virgin olive oildivided | 75ml |
| brown or white mushroomscleaned and quartered | 300g |
| onionfinely chopped | 300g |
| garlicfinely chopped | 15g |
| ripe tomatoesgrated; use 300g crushed canned whole tomatoes when fresh ones are poor | 350g |
| sweet pimentón | 2g |
| dry white wine, preferably Airén | 250ml |
| hot water or unsalted light chicken stock | 300ml |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| thymeor 1 teaspoon dried thyme | 4 sprigs |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 10g |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide heavy casserole or Dutch oven with lid, about 30cm
- •Kitchen tongs
- •Box grater for the tomatoes
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Season the rabbit
Pat the rabbit completely dry and check the cut edges for loose bone fragments. Season it with 10g of the salt and all the black pepper, rubbing both over every piece. Leave it at room temperature for 15 minutes while you prepare the vegetables. A dry surface browns; a wet one simply stews.
Ask the butcher to joint the rabbit through the joints rather than hacking through the bones. The pieces cook more evenly, and you won't find little bone splinters in the sauce. - 2
Brown the mushrooms
Heat 25ml of the olive oil in a wide, heavy casserole over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms in one layer, season with 1g salt, and leave them undisturbed for 2 minutes. Turn and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, until browned and their released liquid has evaporated. Lift them onto a plate.
- 3
Brown the rabbit
Add another 25ml oil to the casserole. Brown the rabbit in two batches so the pieces have room, 2 to 3 minutes on each broad side, until properly golden. Don't try to cook it through yet. Transfer each batch to the mushroom plate, keeping every drop of juice.
Rabbit is lean. Brown it firmly but briefly, and don't keep turning it while it colours. Once each piece releases cleanly from the casserole, that side is ready. - 4
Build the sofrito
Lower the heat to medium-low and add the remaining 25ml oil, the onion, and 2g salt. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is dark gold, soft, and nearly jammy. Add the garlic and cook for 45 seconds. Take the casserole briefly off the heat, stir in the pimentón, then immediately add the tomato. Return it to low heat and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tomato is darkened, almost dry, and the oil shows again around the edges. This slow sofrito, the onion-and-tomato base, decides the sauce. Rush it and the finished braise tastes thin.
- 5
Braise the rabbit
Pour in the white wine and scrape the browned fond from the bottom. Boil for 3 minutes, until the sharp smell of raw alcohol has gone. Return the rabbit and its juices to the casserole, fitting the leg pieces low in the sauce. Add the hot water, bay leaf, and thyme. The liquid should reach roughly halfway up the meat, not cover it. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, lower the heat, and cook for 30 to 35 minutes, turning the pieces once.
- 6
Finish the sauce
Return the browned mushrooms and cook uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes. The rabbit is ready when a fork enters the thigh joint easily and the thickest piece reaches at least 71°C away from the bone. The sauce should be glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon. If the meat is tender before the sauce has reduced, lift it out and boil the sauce alone for a few minutes. Remove the bay and thyme, taste, and use the remaining 2g salt only if needed.
- 7
Rest and serve
Take the casserole off the heat, scatter over the parsley, and let the rabbit rest in its sauce for 10 minutes. Serve one leg or saddle piece per person with mushrooms and plenty of sofrito spooned over it. Bread belongs beside the casserole because leaving that sauce behind would be foolish. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Chef Tips
- •Buy a young farmed rabbit weighing between 1.2kg and 1.6kg. It will be pale, lean, and tender within the stated time. An older or wild rabbit has deeper flavour but may need 60 to 90 minutes of gentle braising and another splash of water.
- •Cultivated brown mushrooms are the dependable substitute for field mushrooms and give more flavour than plain white buttons. Never cook a wild mushroom unless a knowledgeable seller has identified it. A casserole isn't worth gambling over.
- •Use fresh tomato only when it smells ripe at the stem and has real weight in the hand. Outside tomato season, crushed canned whole tomatoes are the better kitchen choice; the sauce will be slightly smoother and no less proper.
- •If rabbit isn't sold where you live, use the same weight of bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks. Start checking them after 30 minutes because chicken softens sooner and releases more fat into the sauce.
- •Cook with a dry white wine you would willingly drink. Airén belongs to La Mancha and suits the dish well. Serve the rest alongside, or choose a young Tempranillo if you want red.
- •Leftovers keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Cool them within 2 hours, cover well, and reheat gently with 30 to 60ml water until the meat reaches 74°C throughout.
Advance Preparation
- •The sofrito can be cooked up to 2 days ahead. Cool it promptly, refrigerate it covered, and return it to the casserole before adding the wine.
- •The complete braise is very good made 1 day ahead. Cool and refrigerate it in its sauce, then reheat covered over low heat with a small splash of water so the lean rabbit doesn't dry out.
- •The mushrooms and vegetables can be prepared earlier the same day, but keep the mushrooms dry and refrigerated until cooking so they brown instead of releasing a panful of water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 525g)
Calories
560 calories
Total Fat
31 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
21 g
Cholesterol
140 mg
Sodium
1600 mg
Total Carbohydrates
17 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
8 g
Protein
53 g
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