Slow-Cooked Rabbit Stew in a Red Wine Reduction

This recipe is definitely for the adventurous and not for the faint of heart! I only recently tried rabbit for the first time and quite frankly, fell in love with it! Being a vegetarian as recently as my teenage years (no longer, though!), the idea of eating a rabbit was a little frightening, which is why I think I waited so long. But a moment of courage converted me into a lover of all things rabbit! 🙂 I love rabbit meat when it is super juicy and tender (fall-off-the-bone-tender, that is), and this recipe does exactly that!

I don’t recommend this to be your first rabbit experience of your life – do what I did and go to a nice restaurant that is known for their meat dishes 🙂 If you like what you taste, then feel free to experiment at home! That is not to say this recipe isn’t delicious (it is!) :), but even starting with the chopping of the rabbit can be a bit gruesome for a first-timer.

Anyhow, for those of you brave enough to try it, I hope you enjoy and it and PLEASE do let me know if you find this recipe as tasty as I do! 🙂

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 domestic rabbit, cut
2 medium red or white onions, sliced
1 cup diced carrots
5 cloves chopped garlic
Kosher salt, to taste
1.5 teaspoon allspice powder (or 10 allspice berries)
1 cinnamon stick
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 large tomatoes, grated, or 1 14-ounce can of crushed tomatoes – (I used a food mill after grating to ensure the tomato skin did not go into the dish!)
1.5 cup red wine (preferably dry)
1/2 cup chicken (or rabbit) stock
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper

Cut up the rabbit and cut into serving pieces.

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a sauté pan and brown the rabbit well.

Once browned, move the rabbit pieces to a dutch oven (or heavy pot with lid).

With the remaining oil in the pan, sauté the onions and carrots for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat, until they begin to brown. Add the garlic and saute for another minute (stirring constantly will stop the garlic from burning). Sprinkle with salt.

Now add all the vegetables to your dutch oven and arrange the bay leaves, oregano, allspice, and cinnamon stick over them.

In the pan you browned the rabbit and the onions, add the wine, sweet wine, vinegar, stock, tomato paste and grated tomatoes (make sure the tomatoes do not have their skin – you can use a food mill, if desired) Cook this down over high heat for 3-4 minutes.

Now, pour over everything in the pot.

Cover the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook on extremely low heat for 2 hours.

Serve hot and garnish with freshly cracked black pepper! Enjoy! 🙂