Fried Rabbit with Rosemary

Jody Williams, our second chef after Thierry, brought this dish with her back from her time working in Reggio-Emilia. In some ways it’s the embodiment of her food: tasty, delicious, and home-cooked. To be honest, rabbit was a hard sell at first—sometimes the worst part of eating rabbit is that you’re eating rabbit—but Alberto fell in love with the preparation of it. It reminded him of how he ate growing up in Foligno: “It’s a taste from my home,” he’d enthuse. Jody’s secret was to allow enough excess flour to remain in the dredging so that there were all these wonderful little crispy bits that accompanied the succulent pieces of rabbit, which were in perfect crunchy bite-size pieces.

Serves 4

1 fryer rabbit, approximately 3 pounds, boned out

1 quart buttermilk

2 garlic cloves, peeled

½ teaspoon crushed peperoncino

4 sprigs rosemary, plus 1 sprig, leaves chopped

2 teaspoons fine sea salt, divided, plus more for finishing

Canola oil, for frying

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup semolina flour

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Starting with the loins, cut each in half crosswise. For the thighs, place each one skin side down and cut each thigh into 3 to 5 even pieces. Leave front legs whole.

2. Add the buttermilk, garlic, peperoncino, chopped rosemary, and 1 teaspoon fine sea salt to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the marinade into a large bowl. Add the rabbit, toss until well coated, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Transfer to the refrigerator and marinate for 8 hours or overnight.

3. About 1 hour before you are ready to fry, remove the rabbit from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

4. Heat the oven to 200°F. Pour 3 inches of the neutral oil into a large dutch oven and place over medium-high heat until it reaches 350°F.

5. As the oil heats, whisk together the flours and 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper and spread in a shallow bowl. Remove the rabbit pieces from the marinade, shaking off any excess liquid. Dredge each piece in the flour mixture until thickly coated (don’t worry about shaking off excess flour; these will become delicious crispy bits later on).

6. Carefully lower 2 or 3 pieces of rabbit into the hot oil. Fry until crispy and golden on all sides and the internal temperature is 160°F, approximately 8 minutes, adding the remaining sprigs of rosemary to the oil for the last minute. Transfer the finished rabbit and rosemary pieces to a paper towel–lined baking sheet and transfer to the oven to keep warm. Continue frying in batches until all the rabbit has been used, making sure to maintain the oil at a steady 350°F.

7. Serve the rabbit immediately with fried rosemary sprigs and a sprinkle of sea salt.