This recipe for Stewed Rabbit or Conejo in Spicy Tomato Sauce turned out exactly as I had hope. A rich and flavorful sauce with falling off the bone tender moist rabbit
1whole rabbitcut into pieces. (I cut the hind quarters into two servings, the front into two servings and the ribs into four servings. For the ribs, I rolled them into cylinders and tied with a piece of string for even cooking)
Salt and freshly ground pepperto taste
1tablespoonherbes de Provencedivided (or you could use Italian seasonings in its place)
2tablespoonsextra virgin olive oilor as needed
1large onioncut in half then sliced on the vertical (about 1 ½ cups total)
4clovesgarlicthinly sliced
2 - 3tablespoonsflourdepends on how thick you want your sauce, I like mine thick, I used 3
2bay leavespreferably fresh, if dried, crumble
2sprigs fresh thymeor ½ teaspoon dried
1 ½cupsdry white wineor white vermouth (I like to use vermouth because of its consistency in flavor)
1cuplow-salt or homemade chicken broth
114.5 ounce can tomatoes in puree (preferably Italian) chopped
Instructions
Heat the oven to 350°F.
Season the rabbit with salt and pepper and half of the herbes de Provence. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat; add the rabbit, in batches as necessary, and brown well on both sides. Remove and set aside.
Reduce the heat to medium; add the onions and sauté until softened; about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the flour; sauté for 2 - 3 minutes, then add the wine (or vermouth); stir well and simmer until the wine is reduced by half, about 5 - 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining herbs de Provence, bay leaf and thyme. Add the chicken broth and tomatoes. Stir well. Nestle the rabbit into the pot; cover and put in the oven. Ignore for 1 ½ hours.
Remove the pot from the oven. Remove the bay leaves, if whole, and the stems from the thyme sprigs. Untie the rib pieces. If you added enough flour at the beginning, you should have a nice thick sauce, if not, let it simmer a few minutes, uncovered on top of the stove until the sauce has been reduced to your liking. Serve the rabbit on rice, noodles, polenta along with the sauce.
If you really can't bring yourself to try rabbit, you could make this dish with chicken. Remove the skin prior to cooking it as the skin would just turn soft and rubbery in the cooking liquid, so why spend the calories on something that is not good to eat?