Description

Adapted from La Cucina delle Marche by Petra Carsetti

Ingredients

Units Scale

1 Whole rabbit, deboned
200 g wild fennel*
300 g minced meat
400 g pig skin
100 g prosciutto, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
Olive Oil
Rosemary
Salt
Pepper

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Instructions

In a large pan over medium-low heat add the oil, add the diced prosciutto, minced meat and any leftover rabbit giblets from deboning. Leave in pan to flavor for five minutes.
In the meantime boil the pig skins for ten minutes in a large pot (they will still be quite hard). Remove any hairs, degrease them and cut them into small cubes. Add them to the pan with meat mixture, chopped fennel and garlic and about a teaspoon of pepper. Cook again until the ingredients are cooked through.
Salt and pepper the rabbit both inside and out, stuff it with the prepared mixture and sew up the belly with kitchen twine (Note: I opted to roll my rabbit and secure the roll with wrapped and tied twine.) Season the rabbit with oil, salt and pepper and a few sprigs of rosemary.
Roast rabbit at ~400 F for an hour or until the meat is cooked through. Let rabbit rest for half hour before serving.

Notes

I made a simple pan sauce by using white wine to deglaze the pan after roasting and poured the liquids into a saucepan to reduce. I also used the fronds and chopped stalk from commercial fennel mixed with two pinches of fennel pollen to substitute for wild pollen and used a mix of extra ground veal and pork for the minced meat. You can find pig skin at your local butcher on request.