CONIGLIO
IN PENTOLA
AL POMODORO

BRAISED RABBIT WITH TOMATO

Rabbit is cooked a great deal in Veneto. You can marinate the rabbit the day before in a mixture of half water and half vinegar. Choose a rabbit with pale pink meat, its fat should be white.

SERVES 6 PREPARATION TIME: 20 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 1 HOUR

1 rabbit cut into 6 pieces + 2 thighs

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

80 ml (2¹/₂ fl oz/¹/₃ cup) olive oil

2 garlic cloves, halved

2 rosemary stalks

185 ml (6 fl oz/³/₄ cup) dry white wine

600 g (1 lb 5 oz) tomatoes, see peeled

1 bunch of basil, leaves only, torn

The liver of the rabbit

Wash and dry the rabbit. Sauté the onion, carrot and celery in a heavy-based saucepan in 2 tablespoons of the oil on medium heat and set aside. In the same pan, heat the remaining oil on high heat, add the rabbit pieces and thighs with the garlic and rosemary and brown them on both sides. Add the wine and let it evaporate for 2 minutes then add the tomatoes and basil. Cook, covered, on low heat: remove the saddles after 20 minutes and continue cooking the thighs for another 30 minutes. You can add the liver of the rabbit, chopped, 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Remove the garlic and serve with polenta or good bread.

OVEN-BAKED VERSION

A variation on this classic recipe is to cook the rabbit in the oven without the tomato. It is replaced with 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) of chicken stock.