Mary’s rabbit pie - Stephanie Alexander

Ingredients

• 1 wild rabbit
• 2 litres Chicken Stock, or water
• 1 stick celery, chopped
• ½ carrot, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 piece lemon zest
• 1 stalk parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 100 g smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
• 150 g button mushrooms, sliced
• ½ cup flaked almonds, toasted
• ½ cup parsley, freshly chopped
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 quantity Shortcrust Pastry (recipe in the Cook’s Companion App and book)
• ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
• sauce: 150 g butter, 150 g plain flour, 1.25 litres reserved cooking liquid, 100 ml cream, juice of 2 lemons, salt, freshly ground black pepper