Today I want to share with you another one of my family recipes. This is my favourite way to cook and eat rabbit and when I was a child I would choose this dish over chicken any time! I know that rabbit is an unusual meat in many countries around the world, but it is quite common in Italy. If you can find rabbit where you live, give it a try as it is really tasty. If not, this is also a great way to cook chicken. This recipe was handed over to my mum by her aunt Franca (thus the name of the dish!) and it has become a staple for us. It is really easy to make and I love the slight tanginess that the vinegar adds to the sauce. I also think oregano goes really well with rabbit! This dish is a keeper and it is great served with some simple mash potatoes, just the way my mum would serve it. Buon appetito!
Aunt Franca's Rabbit
A family recipe for rabbit made with tomatoes, oregano and vinegar.
Ingredients
- 500 gms – 1.1 lbs. rabbit cleaned and cut in pieces
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 50 ml – 1.7 oz. white wine
- ½ tbsp oregano
- 150 gms – 5.3 oz. diced tomatoes
- 30 ml – 1 oz. red wine vinegar
- Salt to taste
Instructions
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Put some water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Put the fire off and add the rabbit pieces to it. Keep it in the water for 30 minutes, then drain it and pat the pieces dry. This will remove any gamey/strong taste from it. (This step is optional)
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Put the extra virgin olive oil and crushed garlic in a pan and sauté it for 1 minute.
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Add the dried rabbit pieces and mix well.
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After 1 minute, add the tomatoes, salt and white wine and sauté for a couple of minutes.
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Add the oregano and vinegar and mix.
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Cook on low fire, partially covered, until the rabbit is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.
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Serve warm with some mash potatoes on the side.
Here in the US, rabbit is available but remains “controversial”. I remember making rabbit once for a group of friends. (The recipe was actually pretty similar to your Aunt Franca’s.) I didn’t tell them what I was eating until afterwards. The rabbit was huge hit and when the time came for the big “reveal” they all laughed. All but one, that is. She never spoke to me again!
Delicious! I absolutely adore rabbit but I normally have it confit. I love this lighter take on it.
Aunt Franca’s Rabbit does conjure up images of a lovely little pet rabbit but they are such a pest here in New Zealand and yet only a few people eat them – I am not sure why.
I like Frank’s story above.
The humble ‘wabbit’ has been on my menus since childhood! Absolutely love your simple recipe . . . have this marvellous butcher a couple of kms up the road who has REAL calves liver and tongue and sweetbreads and honeycomb tripe! Bet he has lovely rabbits too – see on Friday! This DOES look terrific 🙂 !
I love rabbit… in Portugal it is as common as Chicken…. great recipe!
Have to try this version. My family rabbit recipes are for eggplant rabbit and pan roasted, but nothing with red sauce.
Pinned. Like the idea of the vinegar in the tomato sauce.