Mary’s Nildottie farmhouse rabbit pie

by Mary Gierke
Hunter 2

This is a recipe that dates back to WWII, to a time before myxomatosis or the calicivirus. Rabbits were pests on the farms bordering the Murray River, in our case at Nildottie in South Australia, just up from Walker’s Flat, now a popular tourist spot for water skiers and boaties.

Shops were rare and despite the size of farms, money was always tight, but we were never hungry. We worked solidly and ate three generous meals a day, which, more often than not, contained produce and game from our own land. The food was simple but wholesome, with no artificial flavours or preservatives and always farm fresh.

This recipe is one of my favourites for cooking rabbit and I personally like to add a little more bacon, potatoes and mixed herbs than suggested, but I’ll let you cater for your own tastes.

The bacon and mutton help take away the gamy taste of the rabbit and the potatoes are a nice contrast to the flavours. Cooking time should be judged by the fork method and this meal should feed three to four people.

I can’t take all the credit for this simple but tasty pie, as my late husband’s mother handed it down to me many years ago. You may not be able to get the rabbit, mutton or bacon off the farm as we did, but the taste of the pie will still take you back to a simpler time, one before deep freezers and microwaves. I hope you enjoy this uniquely Australian dish.

Ingredients

• 1 ‘farm fresh’ rabbit cut into pieces
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 rashers bacon, diced
• 2 cups of mutton flaps (mutton cut into cubes)
• 1 heaped tablespoon of mixed herbs
• 2 large potatoes, cut into quarters

Method
Put the first five ingredients into a saucepan with water and boil until rabbit is nearly cooked. Add the potatoes. Keep the ingredients on the boil till potatoes are nearly cooked, then put the lot into a casserole dish and make the pastry.

Pastry
Mix one cup of pastry mix with enough water to make a dough. Roll out and put on top of the casserole. Brush with milk and bake till golden for about half an hour.