A festive favourite and best-seller, Pudney describes the dish as a “deep and rich winter warmer” that the pub offers each year during the festive period. “We always order in plenty of wild hare to make sure that we don’t run out, because as soon as this goes on the menu, the customers go nuts about it.”
It costs around £7.85 to make each portion and is priced at £28 per person.
“It is a little bit of work and you don’t see hare a too on many menus as it’s quite intensive picking down all the bones and removing any shrapnel, but it’s well worth it.”
Pudney continued: “The flavour profile of braised hare in this kind of dish is excellent. And with a bit of fresh lemon juice and a splash of some green Chartreuse at the end, it makes for a great flavour.”
Tip: Pineapple juice contains an enzyme called bromelain, which breaks down proteins. In this case, marinating the meat overnight in pineapple juice helps to soften the meat, without flavouring the end product.
The Bull and Last placed tenth in The Morning Advertiser’s Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs list this year and will feature in the Top 50 again in 2026, with the full results due to be revealed in January.
English hare ragu with pappardelle (serves 4)
- 1 whole hare, jointed into 5 pieces (2 shoulders, 1 saddle on the bone, 2 legs)
For the marinade:
- 5 sprigs of thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 250ml pineapple juice
Method:
To marinade the hare, place the 5 pieces in a bowl or tray with the thyme and bay. Pour over the pineapple juice, turning the hare pieces so they are well coated. Leave to marinate for at least 6 hours (or overnight) in the fridge. The next day, strain off and discard the pineapple juice and pat the meat dry with kitchen towel. Keep the bay and thyme to one side.
For the braise and ragu:
- 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 2 onions
- 4 sticks celery
- 1 leek
- 4 carrots
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 bottle of rich red wine
- 750ml hot rich beef stock
- ½ a celeriac, finely diced
- 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 250ml port
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Heat a medium-sized casserole pan with 1 tablespoon rapeseed oil. When hot, add the hare pieces and allow to caramelise on each side. When they have a good colour, remove from the pan and set aside (the hare won’t be cooked through at this stage, this is just to seal the meat).
Meanwhile, roughly chop half the onions, celery, leek and carrots – keep the rest aside for the ragu. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan.
When hot, fry the roughly chopped vegetables for about 10 minutes until nicely caramelised. Add the reserved thyme and bay, the tomato puree, 4 cloves of chopped garlic and the red wine. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the liquid by half and add the hare pieces to the pan.
Cover with the hot beef stock. Put the lid on the casserole and cook at 160*C fan for 1.5-2 hours (this depends on the size of the legs to how long they take).
Remove the casserole from the oven and check how tender the flesh is after an hour and a half. The hare is ready if the meat is tender and coming away from the bone. When it is done, remove the casserole from the oven and leave to stand for 20 minutes.
Finely dice the rest of the vegetables and the celeriac.
To make the ragu:
Heat the remaining tablespoon of rapeseed oil in a large saucepan and sweat the diced vegetables (including the celeriac) for 10 minutes.
While this is cooking, remove the hare from the braising liquid and carefully pick all the meat from the bones. Keep to one side.
Strain the cooking liquid into a clean saucepan, discarding the vegetables, and reduce the liquid by three quarters.
Add the remaining 4 garlic cloves, chopped tomatoes and port to the now softened vegetables in the saucepan, followed by the reduced braising liquid.
Add the hare meat and season well with salt and pepper. Cook gently over a low heat until it becomes a good ragu consistency.
The pasta and to serve:
- 1 x quantity of fresh pasta pappardelle pasta or dried pasta
- a splash of green Chartreuse
- 15g Parmesan, plus more to serve
- juice of a lemon
- 2 cooked chestnuts
Method:
When the ragu is ready, cook your pasta in boiling water for 2–3 minutes. Add a splash of green chartreuse to the ragu. Using tongs, add the cooked pasta to the ragu in the pan and a little of the pasta cooking water. Using the tongs, lightly work the pasta and sauce together.
Grate 15g parmesan into the pot and continue to work the sauce. Add a squeeze of lemon and season with salt and a healthy crack of black pepper. Serve with more grated Parmesan and grated chestnut over the top. The Bull and Last adds a final garnish of sage crisps.
Pundey said that if hare isn’t available then a great substitute would be oxtail, 2.5kg of cut oxtail on the bone. Only change would be to leave the pineapple out of the marinade.
This recipe and other Bull and Last staples can be found in the pub’s cookbook, here.
To take part in The MA’s Dish Deconstructed series, please contact phoebe.fraser@wrbm.com.
