Rabbit stew with mushrooms and chestnuts in a pressure cooker

Although it takes the islands a while to get to autumn and summer and “winter” almost overlap here, we do like to prepare dishes worthy of this season we are entering.

And it’s a season when you crave those comforting stews to soak up with bread and also have the chance to add seasonal ingredients like chestnuts or even mushrooms.

On this occasion, although I would have liked to add wild mushrooms, which haven’t arrived here yet, I used two types of common mushrooms that everyone has on hand and, in addition to that, some chestnuts that were waiting for me in the freezer from last season — in other words, an ideal stew to finish off those last supplies and make room for the new ones to come.

On the other hand, those of you who already know me know that I love these kinds of preparations but I can’t always dedicate the long time they would need, so I propose this delicious stew in the WMF pressure cooker, a must that should be in every kitchen.

WMF Perfect pressure cooker and Emile Henry ceramic mortar

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people)

• 1 rabbit cut into large pieces
• 125 g Portobello mushrooms cut into quarters or eighths depending on size*
• 125 g white mushrooms cut into quarters or eighths depending on size*
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 200 g stewed chestnuts**
• 300 ml meat stock
• 1 coffee cup of brandy
• 1 bundle of aromatics (bay leaf, thyme, rosemary)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Crushed mixture:

• 4 almonds
• 3 hazelnuts
• 1 garlic clove
• 4 bread sticks (picos)
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 cooked chestnut
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

PREPARATION

1. Brown the rabbit, previously seasoned with salt and pepper, in batches in the WMF pressure cooker, set aside.
2. Add the onion, garlic and bundle of aromatics to the pot, sauté for a few minutes. Once the onion is softened add the brandy and cook until the alcohol has completely evaporated.
3. Next add the pieces of rabbit and the mushrooms. Moisten with the stock, bring to a boil and close the cooker. Cook for 12 minutes once the two pressure rings have risen and the cooker starts to whistle.
4. After the cooking time, wait for the pressure to drop by changing the closure to the depressurization position or simply removing the cooker from the heat and waiting.
5. While the stew was cooking it’s time to prepare the crushed mixture. For this, in a frying pan you will have fried the whole garlic together with the nuts. Set aside until the ingredients are warm.
6. Crush all the ingredients together in our Emile Henry mortar: the garlic, the nuts, the bread sticks, the chestnut and the tablespoon of oil used to fry the ingredients. Work well until you achieve a paste.
7. Return to the stew; now you would open the cooker and finish the preparation; for this, add the chestnuts and the crushed mixture, cook over medium heat for a few minutes or until you see the sauce has thickened, check for salt and pepper.
8. Let rest 10 minutes and... enjoy!

Has this stew convinced you to start autumn with a dish that takes your breath away? We love it at home and prepare it whenever we can; it’s a simple but very tasty recipe.

Oh! Just one more thing, have a good bread nearby because you’ll want to sop.

WMF Perfect pressure cooker, Emile Henry ceramic mold and Pallarès stainless steel kitchen knife

* The mushrooms can be substituted with whichever mushroom you like best; each mushroom has its own flavor but this way you can achieve different aromas with the same base.

**If the chestnuts were raw they would need to be added to cook along with the rabbit, and if they were chestnuts with shells it would be necessary to soak them for 8 hours and add them as you would a raw chestnut.