Italian Pan-Seared Rabbit Loin Salad with Smoked Pancetta & Dro Plums: A Villetta Annessa Recipe
Pan-seared sous vide rabbit loin wrapped in smoked pancetta served with a liquid salad and Dro plums. Recipe by Luca Bombardelli from Villetta Annessa, Riva del Garda.
Clean, salt and cut the rabbit loin fillets into bite-sized pieces.
Place the rabbit in a sous vide bag along with the olive oil and cook for three hours at 63 degrees Celcius.
Remove the bag from the sous vide and carefully drain and reserve the cooking liquid, sieving out any pieces.
Meanwhile, blanch the salad leaves (take care not to include any red leaves or bitter green leaves such as rocket) in hot water and cool again in cold water.
Blend the blanched salad leaves with a little of the rabbit cooking liquid until it reaches the desired consistency. Season well with salt and pepper and thicken with the xanthan gum. Set aside.
Wrap each of the cooled rabbit loin pieces in a slice of smoked pancetta and place in a cold, non-stick pan. Heat to a medium-high heat and sear the rabbit until browned, crispy and heated through. This will take 7-8 minutes.
Pour a little of the liquid salad onto a plate and top with salad leaves and edible flowers.
Place the pan-seared rabbit on the top and dot the dish with homemade 'mayonnaise', if desired (see recipe notes). Finish off with the sliced Dro plums. Serve immediately.
Notes
To make the homemade 'mayonnaise' place the remaining rabbit sous vide cooking water into a blender, season well with salt and pepper and blend until thick.You can also sprinkle the salad with a special toasted topping made with equal parts Trentino Grana cheese, cornmeal and dehydrated pomodorino tomatoes.