Hairy Bikers Rabbit Pie Recipe

This Hairy Bikers rabbit pie recipe is a picnic pie of finely chopped rabbit and herby sausage meat, baked in a lard and butter shortcrust. So the Perfect Pies version serves 6 to 8 in about 1½ hours, at roughly 715 calories a slice across 8 by my estimate.

“The perfect combo of bunny and banger” is how Si and Dave sell it, and they pitch it at anyone who has never tried rabbit. Where their Mums Still Know Best rabbit stew becomes a pie under a pastry lid, this filling goes into the case raw and bakes.

The food processor is where it can go wrong, because they pulse the rabbit in 2 batches so it chops finely without turning to mush. Then sausage meat, breadcrumbs, mace and thyme bind it into a filling that, judging by their photo, cuts into neat squares.

Hairy Bikers Rabbit Pie Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Baking Cuisine:British Courses:Dinner

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 40 minutesCook time: 45 minutesRest time: minutesTotal time:1 hour 25 minutesServings:8 servingsCalories:715 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Rabbit is pulsed fine, then mixed with sausage meat, soft onion, crumbs, mace and thyme and pressed into a pastry-lined shallow dish. Then a fork-sealed lid and an egg glaze go on before a hot bake, and slices are good warm or cold.

Ingredients

For the filling

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 750g fresh boneless rabbit meat or mixed game
• 450g herby pork sausages
• 50g fresh white breadcrumbs
• ½ tsp ground mace
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the shortcrust pastry

• 400g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
• 125g cold butter, cut into cubes
• 100g cold lard, cut into cubes
• 6 tbsp water
• beaten egg, to glaze

prime30 days freeMissing an ingredient?✓ Free fast delivery   ✓ Cancel anytimeTry Prime freeUnderlined ingredients link to Amazon UK. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Instructions

1. Soften the onion: Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and gently fry the onion for 5 minutes until well softened, stirring occasionally. Then take it off the heat and leave it to cool.
2. Chop the rabbit: Remove any sinewy bits, then pulse the rabbit in a food processor in 2 batches, so it chops finely without going mushy. Or chop it by hand as finely as you can, and either way put the meat in a large bowl.
3. Mix the filling: Squeeze the sausages out of their casings into the rabbit and season well with salt and lots of black pepper. Then add the onion, breadcrumbs, mace and thyme and mix well together.
4. Heat the oven: Preheat the oven to 210°C/Fan 190°C/Gas 6½ and have a dish of about 20 x 30cm ready, not too deep.
5. Make the pastry: Pulse the flour, butter and lard in a food processor until it looks like breadcrumbs. Then, with the motor running, add the water and process until it just starts to come together in a ball.
6. Divide: Split the dough into two-thirds for the base and one-third for the lid, then shape both into slightly flattened blocks.
7. Line the dish: Roll the larger block on a floured surface until about 4cm larger than the dish, then line it, pressing it well into the corners. And leave any excess pastry hanging over the edges. Then pat the filling into the corners with a rubber spatula until level, and brush the pastry edges with beaten egg.
8. Add the lid: Roll out the rest of the pastry, lay it over the top and press the edges together very firmly. Then trim level with the top of the dish, seal with a fork and glaze with egg or milk.
9. Bake: Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the pastry is golden and the filling is cooked, then serve warm or cold.

FAQs

Is this the Grandma Doris rabbit pie Google shows?

No, Google’s AI summary describes jointed rabbit, shin beef and bacon under lard pastry, and credits it to their Mums Know Best TV series. But it isn’t in the Mums Know Best book or any of their cookbooks I’ve checked, and I couldn’t confirm who wrote it.

So this Perfect Pies recipe is the rabbit pie I can show is genuinely theirs, which is why it’s the one on this page.

Can you use chicken or game instead?

Yes, they suggest chicken thigh meat if you’d rather not use rabbit, and the ingredient list allows mixed game too. And if game is what you’re after, their venison and mixed game pie is another cold picnic pie from the same book.

How do you know the filling is cooked?

They bake it for 35 to 45 minutes until the pastry is golden, though the book also prints a stray 45-minute timing beside the preheat. With pork sausage meat inside, I’d check it’s steaming hot in the middle before serving.

So I use a probe and look for 75°C in the centre, which Food Standards Agency guidance treats as cooked through.

Do you need lard in the pastry?

The 100g of lard with 125g of butter gives the short, flaky crust you see in their photo. But their double-crust steak and mushroom pie in the same book uses 250g of butter and an egg, which I’d expect to work too.

Can you eat it cold, and how long does it keep?

Yes, they serve it warm or cold, which is what makes it a picnic pie. But no keeping time is printed, so my own guide is to chill it within 2 hours and eat it within 2 days.

And for a hot rabbit pie with gravy, I’d put a shortcrust lid on their cider rabbit stew, though that’s untested.