Lepre al Miele con Castagne Speziate alla Nicola Taurino

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh chestnuts
• 4 ounces pancetta, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 piece of ginger, 1 inch in diameter and 1 inch thick, peeled and crushed
• Fine sea salt
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 whole allspice berries
• 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
• 1/3 cup good red wine
• 1/3 cup dark honey (buckwheat, chestnut, etc.)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 ounces pancetta, minced
• 1 3 1/2- to 4-pound rabbit, cut into 6 pieces, its liver reserved
• Fine sea salt
• 2 tablespoons minced rosemary leaves
• 4 large leaves sage, torn
• 2 cups good red wine
• 2 tablespoons dark honey (buckwheat, chestnut, etc.)
• 2 tablespoons grappa or Cognac

1. Slit the chestnuts on their flat sides with a short, sharp knife or a hook-bladed chestnut knife.
2. Place the chestnuts in a large saucepan and cover them with cold water.
3. Over a lively flame, bring to a simmer and poach the chestnuts for 5 minutes.
4. Drain the chestnuts, cut away their shells, and rub off their inner skins.
5. The task is made simpler if the nuts are still warm, so keep them under a kitchen towel while you work.
6. One might opt to use 2 jars of vacuum-packed chestnuts, saving an hours work and sacrificing some fun and some flavor.
7. Over a lively flame in a very large saute pan, melt the pancetta with the oil.
8. Add the ginger, permitting it to perfume the fat for a minute or two before adding the chestnuts.
9. Sprinkle the chestnuts with sea salt and saute them for 5 minutes.
10. In a mortar with a pestle, coarsely crush the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and peppercorns and tie them up in a piece of damp cheesecloth.
11. Add the wine to the saute pan and enough water just to cover the chestnuts.
12. Add the spice sachet, bring the components to a simmer and cook the chestnuts, gently, until they are tender but still holding their formabout 20 to 25 minutes.
13. Remove the spice sachet and then the chestnuts from their bath with a slotted spoon.
14. Strain the liquid and return it to the pan.
15. Over a lively flame, reduce the liquid to a scant 1 cup.
16. Add the honey, and when it has melted into the liquids, add the chestnuts, rolling them about and glossing them in the sauce.
17. Cover the pan and set aside.
18. The chestnuts can be completely prepared up to one day in advance of serving them.
19. Over a lively flame in a large ceramic or terra-cotta casserole, heat the oil and in it soften the pancetta.
20. Rinse the rabbit pieces and dry them on absorbent paper towels.
21. Brown the pieces well in the fat, salting them generously, sealing them on all sides and then removing them to a holding plate.
22. Add the rosemary and sage to the casserole, perfuming the fat with them for a minute or two before adding the wine, stirring and scraping at the residue.
23. Reacquaint the rabbit with its bath and bring it all to a gentle simmer.
24. Lower the flame, cover the casserole tightly, and very gently braise the rabbit for 40 to 45 minutes or until its flesh begins to fall from its bones.
25. A gentle flame that keeps the liquids barely simmering will yield a rabbit full of juices.
26. With a slotted spoon, remove the rabbit pieces to a holding plate.
27. Strain the juices and, over a lively flame, reduce them for 2 to 3 minutes.
28. Mash the reserved liver with the honey and the grappa and add it to the simmering sauce, stirring, amalgamating the components and thickening the sauce.
29. Return the rabbit to the finished sauce and warm them together for 1 minute.
30. Present the rabbit from its casserole with the chestnuts, gently warmed, as accompaniment.
31. A bowl of simply dressed bitter greens is a welcome counterpoint.

chestnuts, pancetta, olive oil, ginger, salt, cinnamon, cloves, berries, peppercorns, good red wine, honey, extravirgin olive oil, pancetta, rabbit, salt, rosemary, sage, good red wine, honey, grappa

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/lepre-al-miele-con-castagne-speziate-alla-nicola-taurino-391192 (may not work)