Rabbit, rosemary and green olive pie

Sift the flour into a bowl with the salt then transfer to a food processor, pulse for a few seconds then add the butter a few pieces at a time.

With the motor running, add the eggs and milk. When the mixture starts to come together, add the parmesan and thyme. Pulse for 5 seconds then turn out onto a bench. (If mixture is too dry, add a little extra beaten egg; if too wet, add a little extra flour.)

Knead for a few minutes. Roll into 8 balls of equal size, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

When you are ready to cook, place a chilled dough ball between 2 sheets of baking paper or plastic wrap and roll out to a 4mm thickness. As a rough guide, 1 dough ball makes 1 small pie lid, 2-3 balls make a large lid – but of course it does depend on the size of dish you are using. For this dish, you will need 2½ pastry balls combined and rolled out to make a 4mm-thick pie lid.

Place the rabbit on a large chopping board and cut into 8 roughly equal pieces (or ask your butcher to do this).

Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pot or casserole dish till hot. Season the rabbit and cook in batches for a couple of minutes on each side or until nicely browned. Transfer the meat to a plate.

Lower heat and add the vegetables and garlic to the pot. Cook for 8 minutes or so or until lightly browned. Add 200ml of wine and the vinegar, bring to the boil and reduce liquid by half. Add stock, bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer. Add rabbit, put the lid on and simmer for 1½ hours or until meat falls off the bones.

Take meat out of the pot and reduce the liquid by three quarters. Mix 2 tablespoons wine with cornflour and whisk into the sauce, add rosemary and take off the heat. Pick the meat off the rabbit bones and add to the sauce then fold in olives and parsley. Season to taste then leave to cool.

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Fill a large pie dish to the top with cooled filling (you will probably have leftover filling, which you can freeze and use later for another pie or as a pasta sauce). Gently place the pastry lid on top and press down with your fingertips to seal the edges. Cut off any excess pastry.

Bake in oven for 10 minutes then take out and brush with beaten egg. Return to oven and cook for 10 more minutes.