Ligurian Rabbit Stew: An Italian classic recipe that is sustainable as it is delicious

Don’t be afraid to try rabbit! Especially when it’s cooked with olives, pine nuts, and lots of herbs to make a delightfully creamy and briny stew.

Serves 2 as a main course
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 pound of rabbit in pieces
1 cup of diced onion
½ cup of diced fennel
1 cup of olives
1 cup of white wine
¼ cup of pine nuts
¼ cup of flour
¼ cup of chopped parsley
1 sprig of rosemary chopped fine
2 sage leaves chopped fine
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
½ liter of water
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Sale and pepper the rabbit pieces and then dredge in flour. Shake off the excess and then brown it in a sauce pan over medium high heat with a tablespoon of olive oil.

Once the rabbit has been browned on both sides, remove from pan. This takes about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the onion and fennel to the pan with a pinch of salt. Sweat the mixture until tender, roughly 5 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and let it brown slightly over medium heat. As soon as it starts to smell a bit coppery, add the white wine to the pan to deglaze and let it reduce by about half or until the alcohol has evaporated. Add the rosemary, sage and pine nuts to the pan.

Put the rabbit pieces back to the pan and add water until it reaches about halfway up the rabbit without covering them. Add the olives and turn the heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes covered.

Check the rabbit after 30 minutes and take the lid off. Let the liquid reduce by half, or roughly another 20 to 30 minutes. Add the lid back to the pan if it looks like the liquid is getting too thick.

After 1 hour the meat should be tender and come away from the bone without much effort. Turn off the heat and add the parsley. An optional touch before serving is to drizzle some of your finest olive oil over the stew when served.