Rabbit Monferrato style

In the past, gourmands have had misgivings about rabbit meat. Pellegrino Artusi wrote about rabbit:

“It is not much of a meat, rather tasteless, that can be improved with seasoning. It is suitable for those who cannot afford beef so have to feed on pulses and greens” The reason for this distrust is because the flavour of the meat, more than any other animal, depends on what it eats. Not only the large farms with poor quality feed, but also the farmers, who feed the rabbits unsuitable herbs, may make the meat unpleasantly, bitter and “gamey”.

Piedmont cuisine includes many recipes for cooking rabbit: with peppers, red or white wine, herbs, just to mention a few. The recipe presented here is perhaps the simplest and most popular in the Monferrato area around Casale and Asti. The use of the liver is uncommon despite its delicacy. When dividing the rabbit into pieces avoid cutting the bones that splinter easily, cut the joints. The rabbit is usually cut into 8 pieces. Always use young animals that have hung for at least 3 days.