This is food blogging how I like it best. A simple but tasty recipe using a limited amount of seasonal ingredients, prepared, eaten, and blogged about all during the same evening. The flavor still lingers as I am typing this. And today it can’t get any more seasonal than pumpkin! Roasted pumpkin is a great combination with lentils, and I served them together with rabbit leg. I used rosemary to flavor all three of them and tie the dish together. I cooked the rabbit legs sous-vide and deep-fried them to brown them easily. If you can’t get rabbit or you don’t have a sous-vide, you could always serve this with chicken instead. Here’s what I did…
Ingredients
For 2 servings
450 grams (1 lb) of cleaned and peeled pumpkin, preferably Hokkaido
2 rabbit legs, about 450 grams (1 lb) total weight
120 grams (2/3 cup) lentils, preferably Le Puy
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh rosemary
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
baking powder
oil for deep frying
Instructions
Wash and dry the rabbit legs. Season them with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and vacuum seal with plenty of fresh rosemary.
Cook the rabbit legs sous-vide for 8 hours at 75C/167F, 2 hours at 60C/140F, 1 hour at 66C/150F. The longer cooking time will yield the best texture and flavor if you have the time.
Preheat the oven at 225C/440F. Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds…
…and cut into pieces of 2 to 3 cm (1 inch).
Put the pumpkin in an oven proof dish and toss with 2 Tbsp olive oil, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
Roast for 15 minutes at 225C/440F, then take out of the oven.
Turn the pumpkin pieces so they will cook evenly, and sprinkle with about a tablespoon of minced rosemary. Return to the oven…
…until the pumpkin is tender, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, wash 120 grams (2/3 cup) of lentils, and put them in a saucepan with ample water (750 ml or 3 cups). Add a sprig of rosemary and bring to a boil.
Boil the lentils, covered, for 25 minutes.
Drain the lentils and season with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a tablespoon of good quality extra virgin olive oil.
Heat up an ample amount of frying oil in a wok or other suitable vessel to a temperature of 180C/350F.
Take the rabbit legs out of the sous-vide. Remove the rosemary…
…and pat them dry with paper towels.
Sprinkle generously with baking powder. This will increase the pH and will help with the Maillard (browning) reaction.
When the oil is 180C/350F, add the rabbit legs.
Deep fry them until golden, which should only take a couple of minutes.
Lift them out of the hot oil with a strainer, and drain on paper towels.
If you timed everything perfectly, the pumpkin, lentils, and rabbit will be ready at the same time. Serve the rabbit, pumpkin, and lentils on preheated plates.
Flashback
Cajun style is an original way to prepare fish sous-vide that is very tasty.
Stefan's Gourmet Blog 
🙂 Good Stuff……..
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At this time of the year in E Australia I’ll have more trouble getting fresh pumpkin than rabbit 🙂 ! This is totally and absolutely ‘up my tree’!! The puy lentils and rabbit I have enjoyed before . . . here we go: on top of the list the first time I see a beautiful butternut pumpkin 🙂 !!!!
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It would have to be chicken here, but I have a sous vide now! Won’t have any of those recipes up until i get two hands back… Looks deliish, love lentils too.
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Looks delicious.
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looks Jummie!!
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Wait a minute. Something ain’t right here. 1 hour @ 150, 2 hours @ 140, but EIGHT hours @ 167?!!!! Huh? Please explain.
Love your blogs, man! I’ve been following you for some time, now. Bought a Sansaire, then a Sous Vide Supreme. LOVE this method! I hunt rabbit and squirrel, so this is right up my alley. . Been following you and “Cooking-in-Russia” and really like how you both go into incredible detail about what you do and WHY you do it. Superb, in BOTH cases! Same for Paul Prudhomme. (I make a wicked Jambalaya, too, by the way.)
I’m actually from Brunswick County, Virginia (USA) and make original Brunswick Stew with squirrels (mainly for myself), although I DO use chicken for the less bold among us. . It generally takes about 12-13 hours, counting both prep and cooking time.
Actual cooking time I believe runs around 6-7 hours. You know it’s done when the pork fatback has completely dissolved and the paddle will stand up by itself. Above all, STIR it the WHOLE time, once it gets going. AND, for at least an hour or so afterwards, too. Do NOT let it stick!
If you or anyone else would like my recipe, please reply to my email, bogburn48@comcast.net … or, I can post it here (your call). It’s not proprietary. Hell, it’s been in the family over 100 years, but everybody ’round here generally makes it the same way.
Anyway, take care, Bro. And keep up the blogs. I’s learnin’. You’re doing a great job! God bless!
Sincerely,
Bill Ogburn
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Questo coniglio deve essere buonissimo!
Strane le tue zucche!
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Coniglio, zucca e rosmarino, accostamento perfetto! Nemmeno io ho mai visto zucche che si pelano
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Can I substitute butternut squash for the pumpkin?
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Definitely. In Italian, both pumpkin and squash are called “zucca”. And in Dutch butternut squash is called “flask pumpkin”.
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