Recipe courtesy of Christian Petroni
Licorice Braised Rabbit with Chiles, Rosemary and Soft Gorgonzola Polenta
- Level: Intermediate
- Yield: 4 servings
- Total: 30 min
- Active: 2 hr 20 min
Ingredients
Rabbit:
1 rabbit, butchered into 8 pieces
1 cup olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
4 heads garlic, halved crosswise
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 fresh red chiles, stemmed and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/3 cup anisette
4 cups beef stock, heated
Polenta:
1 cup beef stock
Kosher salt
9 ounces polenta (not instant)
3 ounces Gorgonzola dolce cheese
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino-Romano
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
- For the rabbit: Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, carrot, garlic, rosemary and chiles and cook until the onions have softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste. Carefully add the rabbit pieces and pour in the anisette and beef stock. Place the lid on the Dutch oven and bake for 2 hours.
- Remove the rabbit pieces from the Dutch oven and set aside. Return the pot to the stove on medium-high heat and let the liquid reduce until it coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, sear the rabbit pieces in a large cast-iron pan over high heat until just charred, about 1 minute.
- For the polenta: Bring the beef stock and 7 cups water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Season to taste with salt. Slowly and steadily pour in the polenta. Cook on low heat, stirring frequently, until it is creamy and tender, about 30 minutes. Add the Gorgonzola, butter and freshly grated cheeses and stir together until homogenized.
- To serve, spoon the polenta onto 4 plates. Place the rabbit pieces on top of each bed of polenta and top it all with the rabbit sauce. Enjoy!