Classic Hasenpfeffer with Semolina Dumplings

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A plate of hasenpfeffer with semolina dumplings and glazed carrots.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Whenever I’m talking to someone about hunting and the conversation turns to chasing rabbits, I am invariably asked about hasenpfeffer. It seems to be the only rabbit recipe anyone knows, and I am pretty sure we can thank Bugs Bunny for that one.

There is a 1962 episode of Loony Tunes where the king demands hasenpfeffer from his cook, who is of course Yosemite Sam. “Where’s my hasenpfeffer!” Sam grabs a knife and hilarity ensues.

Interestingly, there is a hidden truth in this episode: At the end, Bugs notes that this is the only time a “one-eyed Jack (rabbit) beats a king.” Hasenpfeffer, you see, is not a rabbit recipe. It requires a “hase,” the German word for hare. And our most common hare here in North America is the jackrabbit.

Hasenpfeffer is an old dish. It’s combination of vinegar, wine and lots of spices suggests it is at least as old as the Renaissance, and probably older. One source puts its origins in Westphalia, in the 1300s.

The “pfeffer” refers in this case not just to black pepper, which would be the literal translation, but to a general spiciness. not chile spicy, but highly seasoned with herbs, juniper and Spice Trade goodies like black pepper, allspice, cloves and such.

Like its cousin sauerbraten, hasenpfeffer hinges on a flavorful marinade and a long soak time of up to four days. You then braise it slowly and serve with a vegetable of your choice, plus noodles, potatoes or dumplings. I love dumplings, and the Germans happen to be masterful dumpling-makers. Only the Chinese beat them at it, in my opinion. Spätzle is my favorite, but I wanted to try something new for this recipe.

I am amassing a collection of German cookbooks, but so far my favorite is still Mimi Sheraton’s classic: The German Cookbook: A Complete Guide to Mastering Authentic German Cooking. This is to German food what Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking is to French food.

A plate of hasenpfeffer with semolina dumplings and glazed carrots.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Sheraton has lots of dumpling recipes in her book, and I was intrigued by one for semolina dumplings: Balls of semolina dough bound with egg and heavily spiced with nutmeg; it’s a perfect accompaniment to the hasenpfeffer. Done right, these dumplings are (like all good dumplings) light and fluffy. Done poorly, they are gut bombs.

A nice side of classic glazed carrots rounds things out. (The link is to a recipe for glazed carrots I developed with my friend Elise over at Simply Recipes).

This was our Thanksgiving meal, and we did not miss the turkey one bit. Warming, comfy and very traditional. Give this recipe a go for a Sunday dinner when the weather is cold and nasty, even if you use rabbit instead. You will not be sorry you did.

A plate of hasenpfeffer with semolina dumplings and glazed carrots.
4.90 from 19 votes

Hasenpfeffer with Semolina Dumplings

While hasenpfeffer should properly be made with hare (snowshoe or jackrabbit in the United States), hares are notoriously hard to find if you are not a hunter. So do what everyone else does and make it with rabbit. The actual making of the dish is pretty easy, but it will be far better if you give it the 2 to 3 days' worth of marinating time. Marinades take a long time to penetrate meat, and the flavorful marinade is the heart of hasenpfeffer.
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: German
Servings: 8
Author: Hank Shaw
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients 

MARINADE

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons chopped rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon juniper berries, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon crack black peppercorns
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 4 cloves
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 green onions, chopped

HARE

  • 1 jackrabbit, snowshoe hare or domestic rabbit, or 2 cottontails or squirrels
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • Flour for dredging
  • 2 to 3 cups chopped onion
  • 1/4 cup sour cream

DUMPLINGS

  • 1 cup milk, whole or 2%
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons semolina flour, or use farina or Cream of Wheat
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions 

  • Marinate the rabbit. Bring all the ingredients for the marinade to a boil, then let cool to room temperature. While the marinade is cooling, cut up a hare into serving pieces. Find a covered container (plastic, ceramic, glass) just about large enough to hold the cut-up hare and put the meat inside. Cover with the cooled marinade. If you have leftover marinade, put that into a different container. Put everything in the refrigerator and let it sit at least 8 hours, but 2 days is better.
  • Remove the hare from the marinade and pat it dry. Save the marinade. Heat the butter in a large, heavy pot with a lid. Dredge the hare in the flour and brown well on all sides. Do this over medium to medium-high heat so the butter does not burn. Remove the hare pieces as they brown and set aside.
  • As the hare is browning, preheat your oven to 325°F and strain the marinade into a bowl.
  • Once you've browned the hare, add the onion and stir to coat with the butter. If there is not much butter left, add another tablespoon or so. Cook the onions over medium-high heat until they are soft and a little brown on the edges. Sprinkle salt over them as they cook.
  • Return the hare to the pot and add the strained marinade. Bring to a simmer, cover and put into the oven. Cook until the meat wants to fall off the bones: This will take 2 to 4 hours for a wild hare, or between 90 minutes and 2 hours for a store-bought rabbit. To finish the hasenpfeffer, remove it from the oven and uncover the pot. Spoon off about a cup of the sauce and put it into a bowl. Add the sour cream to the bowl and mix to combine. Return the mixture to the pot and swirl it around to combine. Serve at once with the dumplings.
  • Make the dumplings. Once the hasenpfeffer has cooked for an hour or so, make the dumpling dough. Heat the milk to the steaming point and add the butter and salt. Start stirring the milk with one hand while you sprinkle in the semolina with the other. Stir well until the semolina absorbs the milk and forms a stiff dough. Take the pot off the heat and let the dough cool. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil on the stove. once it boils, turn off the heat until the hare is done.
  • When the hasenpfeffer is ready, turn the heat off the oven but leave everything inside. Mix the egg and nutmeg into the semolina dough. Let the dough stand while you bring your pot of salty water back to a boil, which won't take long because you preheated it. Get a bowl of water ready to wet your hands, so the dumpling dough doesn't stick to them.
  • Roll the dough into balls. I like to make dumplings the size of a walnut. As you make them, drop each one into the boiling water. Do not crowd the pot. Once the dumplings start bobbing on the surface, let them cook another 2 to 5 minutes, depending on how soft you like them. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Notes

Nothing in this recipe is difficult to find, with the possible exception of juniper berries. Juniper is used so often in wild game dishes that if you are a hunter, you really need a constant supply. You can either pick them yourself, find them in a large supermarket, or order juniper berries online.

Nutrition

Calories: 1106kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 162mg | Sodium: 1342mg | Potassium: 790mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 438IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe? Tag me today!Mention @huntgathercook or tag #hankshaw!

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About Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet’s largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

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47 Comments

  1. Another alternative to Juniper Berries is to use 1 cup of Gin in place of 1 cup of water. Gin is nothing but grain alcohol infused with Juniper. When you cook it off and the alcohol is gone, what you have left is an “Essence of Juniper”. Works like a charm.

  2. Do you cover the rabbit while it cooks in the oven? I just put the rabbit into the oven, uncovered. Thanks for a reply if anyone happens to see this.

  3. So, I was in such a hurry to make this dish, I forgot to boil the marinade. Will the marinade still work even without boiling first?

  4. After a 2 day marinade, I cooked your recipe for the family. It was an absolute home run. The 1 tsp of nutmeg in the dumplings went perfectly with everything. If I were to impart any advice to those considering this recipe, it would be to go through the trouble of finding juniper berries, because they definitely make it all come together. Well done Sir! I think that I’ll go back and lick my plate now.

  5. Cooked it for Easter dinner. Everyone LOVED it. It ended up reminding me of tetrazinni because of how the rabbit shredded as it came off the bones. (I used rabbit legs from a local meat company, as I don’t have the wherewithal to hunt or raise the tasty critters at the moment. Sadly, it’s an expensive way to procure rabbit.)

  6. Thanks for a great recipe. I made this last night and it turned out great! This is definitely something you would want to make for someone to introduce them to eating rabbit. It has a great unique flavor (a lot like sauerbraten) and although the marinade is delicious it does hide the difference in flavor from other white meat a bit. So, I think people who might not normally eat rabbit might try this because it’s not overtly RABBIT. If that makes sense. Anyhow, our family loved it.

  7. Try it in the pressure cooker rather than in the oven. (Add a little more liquid and cut the cooking time by 2/3.)

  8. Great recipe. But, oh man, you haven’t tried dumplings till you’ve had the Ukrainian varieties. Varenyky and such with many different fillings.

  9. Hi Again,

    I have the little squirrely beasties marinating. If I can stand it, I will leave them soaking for a few more days. When I made up the marinade, I noticed the spice mix was very similar to Penzy’s pickling spices. The biggest difference would be the mustard seeds. What do you think? I may try a batch that way next.

  10. I just made this hassenpfeffer this weekend for a party of people many of whom have little to no expirience with rabbit. All had the courage to try it and received the highest praise. I used wild cottontails and quadroupled the sour cream after Browning the bunnies I finished in a crockpot instead of the oven. Delicious thanks so much for the recipe and love the sight.

  11. I finally had a successful squirrel hunt and cleaning. I start the marinading process tonight. I am really looking forwar to trying this recipe. Thanks for it and all of the information on squirrell hunting and processing.

  12. Hank,
    I have recently discovered your blog, and I have been thoroughly enjoying your writing. Just yesterday I attempted this Hasenpfeffer recipe and enjoyed it so much I shared it on my blog:
    https://scottmessengeroutdoors.blogspot.com/

    Thank you for the tip on the German Cookbook, it as been added to my Christmas list!
    Thanks
    Scott M

  13. The hasenpfeffer recipe sounds really good, and I want to hear more about this German cookbook collection!

  14. Ricky: In this case, it’s one tablespoon whole juniper that are then crushed. If I am measuring pre-chopped or crushed things, I’ll say “1 tablespoon crushed juniper berries.” Semantic, but hey, it seems to work.

  15. Great sounding recipe, Hank. I’ve got a few squirrels in the freezer that I might have to turn into “Eichhörnchenpfeffer”.
    Kind of a general cooking question, but I’ll ask just the same: when your recipe states, “1 Tablespoon Juniper Berries, crushed”…is that 1 Tablespoon before, or after they’re crushed?

  16. Hank….I have to agree with you. Mimi’s book is our guide as well. Even with my girlfriend being born and raised in Germany, we will still reference back to Mimi’s book on occasion.
    Spaetzle is a favorite of mine as well…….easy to make and oh so good.
    we don’t do rabbit here very often but this will be a good reason to plan a dinner around it.
    Thanks,
    Brad