Ligurian coin pasta with braised rabbit sauce

(Corsetti con ragù di coniglio)

Serves 6

These traditional Ligurian corsetti (ancient coins) are one of the most beautiful forms of pasta that exist. They are fun to make, too. The process of transforming basic pasta dough into wonderful pieces of edible art gives great satisfaction. In this recipe, I serve the corsetti with a traditional Ligurian rabbit ragù, while in Liguria they are often served with the more classic pesto alla genovese. They are great with either sauce.

600 g (1 lb 5 oz) fresh egg pasta dough

100 ml (3½ fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

1 brown onion, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 leek, diced

3 thyme sprigs

1 small bay leaf

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

fine sea salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

600 g (1 lb 5 oz) rabbit pieces on the bone

100 ml (3½ fl oz) dry white wine

500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) good-quality tomato passata (puréed tomatoes)

1 tablespoon tomato paste (concentrated purée)

500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) chicken broth

freshly grated Sardinian pecorino or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Take the egg pasta dough and roll it into sheets of 1–2 mm (approx. ¹/₁₆ inch) thickness. Cut out the corsetti with a 6 cm (2½ inch) wide tool and stamp an insignia with the other side (to resemble an antique Roman coin).

Heat half of the extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan over low–medium heat and add the diced vegetables, thyme, bay leaf and garlic. Season the vegetables with the sea salt and black pepper and sauté until they soften and become translucent. Heat the remaining extra virgin olive oil in a separate saucepan over medium heat. Season the rabbit pieces and then cook them until they are nicely browned. Once the vegetables have softened, add the rabbit pieces and raise the heat. When hot, add the white wine and cook until the wine is almost completely evaporated. Next, add the tomato passata, tomato paste and chicken broth. Bring to the boil then simmer for at least 2 hours or until the rabbit meat is starting to fall off the bone. Once the meat has reached this point, take out the rabbit pieces and set aside to cool. Once cool, pick the rabbit meat from the bone and break into bite-sized pieces and return it to the sauce. Heat the rabbit sauce and set aside.

Cook the corsetti in salted rapidly boiling water for approximately 8 minutes or until completely cooked (more than al dente).

Spoon the rabbit sauce over the top of the corsetti pasta and serve immediately with lots of freshly grated Sardinian pecorino or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.