CookEat Recipe
Rabbit Braised with Tomato and Its Liver
Jointed rabbit braised with its finely chopped liver, onion, celery, carrot and parsley in a light tomato sauce.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 1 professionally cleaned rabbit, about 1.2 kg, jointed, with its edible liver reserved; 30 g butter, divided into 20 g for cooking and 10 g for finishing; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 1 small celery stalk, finely chopped; 1 small carrot, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon chopped parsley; Salt and black pepper to taste; 250 ml plain tomato purée; About 400 ml hot water, added as needed.
Step 2
Pat the jointed rabbit dry without washing raw meat under the tap. Trim the reserved liver and chop it finely with the onion, celery, carrot and parsley. Keep it chilled while you begin cooking the joints.
Step 3
Put the rabbit pieces in a heavy casserole over moderate heat, turning until they release liquid. Pour off this initial liquid carefully, return the pan to the heat and let the pieces dry slightly. Add 20 g of the butter, the oil and the liver-and-vegetable mixture. Season and cook, stirring and turning often, until the pieces are lightly browned, about 10–15 minutes.
Step 4
Add the tomato purée and enough hot water to keep the base moist. Cover mostly and simmer gently for about 60–80 minutes, turning occasionally and adding small amounts of hot water as needed, until the rabbit is tender and each piece, including liver in the sauce, reaches 74°C. Timing depends on the rabbit; continue longer if still firm.
Step 5
Stir the remaining 10 g butter into the sauce and serve the rabbit with some of its cooking juices. For the tomato-paste alternative, replace the purée with 2 tablespoons plain tomato paste dissolved in about 200 ml water, then adjust the other braising water as needed.
Step 6
The source also serves pasta first: for that version add 30 g finely chopped pancetta to the liver-and-vegetable mixture before browning, and keep enough extra hot water in the braise to leave ample sauce. Once the rabbit is fully cooked, boil about 300 g pappardelle in salted water until tender, drain and toss with part of the rabbit sauce and about 40 g grated Parmesan. Serve the rabbit separately with the remaining juices. Pasta, Parmesan and pancetta belong to this optional two-course version, not the main rabbit dish.
Cooked it? Rate it.
Cooked 0 times