Rabbit alla Ischia Style
It’s been a while since I’ve written. A lot has happened and I’m just trying to get myself back to what I love to do. While visiting my Zio Antonio this holiday season, he brought me back to thinking about our Italian traditions. You all know how much I love to cook and bake. I love to research and try different versions of foods in our family traditions. This year while making my panettone and rococo for Christmas, I altered the recipes by trying different flours. I even added honey to the recipes.
So, I proudly went to visit my Zia and my Zio with my latest versions. Typically, in my Italian family, if you bring a gift, they have to give something in return. My Zia handed me a bag of Baci and told me to share with my family. We love Perugino Baci! My Zio, on the other hand, felt so bad he didn’t have anything to give me in return. I told him not to worry! But he insisted so he wobbles into the walk-in fridge (he’s 92 and still hangs out in his restaurant) and gave me a rabbit. Not a stuffed animal! Not a cute cuddly live bunny! But he handed me a delicacy of a fresh rabbit, marinating in bay leaves and told me to cook it for Christmas. I had already a menu planned so I froze it and made it for New Years!
In our family we raised rabbits like the way people raise chickens. I grew up with my grandparents, aunts, and uncles raising rabbits. Rabbit is the other white meat that is lean and tender. It’s not just an Italian delicacy. Did you know that during WWII it was very commonplace in the US? Beef was dedicated to feeding our overseas troops. The government encouraged people to raise rabbits. Rabbit has never been a common supermarket find. The reason being is that rabbits cannot be commercially grown. Rabbits are more suited to small farms because they are very sensitive and don’t do well with a lot of commotion or noise. You can find rabbit meat at butcher shops since they buy meat from small local farms. You may be able to find rabbit served at ‘farm to table’ restaurants.
In our family, having rabbits for dinner was common. I don’t remember exactly how they made the rabbit. All of my aunts and uncles had their own versions of rabbit recipes using white wine. But! I so remember vividly our many excursions to the Island of Ischia. Ischia is an island off the coast of Naples. Every summer my dad would bring us to Italy. We stayed with my grandmother in Monte di Procida on the mainland. Across the water you can see the Island of Ischia, Procida, and on a really clear day even a glimpse of Capri. Ischia is not only the largest of the three islands but a volcanic Island with the volcano reaching up into the clouds. My mom was born in Ischia. So, of course, we made several trips to visit her family there. But one place that we just had to go to as a special treat was to Cartoromana ( a little town in Ischia with its own beach and restaurant). You aren’t able to drive to the restaurant by car. We would take a motorboat that would drop us off on the beach there. Not only did we enjoy the quiet beach at Cartoromana (not too many tourists know about this unique spot) but a really cool perk of this beach is, that it has bubbling hot water coming up from the hot springs.
The bubbling hot springs!
Giovanna loved hanging out in the hot water springs
Afterwards we would go and have lunch at the restaurant. And that, my friends, is where I enjoyed the most delicious rabbit. Coniglio al’Ischitano served with Bucatini. It wasn’t just me! My whole family enjoyed it so deliciously. In fact, we made coming to this restaurant a highlight every time we came to visit the island. The more things change the more they stay the same. The captain of our motorboat was always the same. He was accompanied by his son. Then his son, Angelo, took over the route. In fact, the son drove us to Cartoromana this past summer.
Angelo bringing us to Cartoromana
So, for 60 years I’ve been going to Ischia to Cartoromana, on the same family boat and the same restaurant – eating the same meal.
Giovanna and my Dad enjoying Cartoromana circa 1985
The way the Ischitano’s make rabbit is famous. If you google it, a bunch of recipes will pop up. Stanley Tucci made a series about food in Italy and sure enough he had to go to Ischia to film the famous dish Coniglio al’Ischitano. If you go up to the top of the island, there is a restaurant that grows its own rabbit. This “farm to table” restaurant grow rabbit in a natural habitat. The rabbits are not grown in cages but in dug-out holes in the ground.
As part of our meal this New Years we served the rabbit my Zio Antonio gave me al’Ischitano in memory of my sister Giovanna. We started going to Italy every summer while growing up to visit my Nonna. But then my baby sister decided to relocate to the Island of Ischia, and I continued the tradition of going to Ischia. I got to enjoy Ischia much more with Giovanna living there. I stayed with her the whole time and visited every part of the Island. I learned so much about the island and its food,
Coniglio all’ Ischitana with Bucatini Pasta
Ingredients:
2 pound rabbit ( cut in pieces)
3-4 garlic cloves or 1 garlic bulb
2 cups of white wine
1 small chili pepper or dried red pepper flakes
1 sprig of rosemary leaves removed from stem
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon of fresh parsley
2 bay leaves (remove before serving)
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
1 pound of Bucatini pasta
All purpose flour for flouring rabbit
3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 pound of cherry tomatoes ( I used Campari tomatoes on the stem) cut in half or quartered if larger
Procedure:
- Wash the rabbit pieces and remove the liver and kidneys and set aside (if you have them). Marinate the rabbit in 1 cup white wine and 2 bay leaves for 1-2 hours or overnight. Then drain and pat it dry with kitchen paper.
- Wash and cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds. Wash and chop the herbs and peel the garlic (or take the whole bulb and cut off base exposing all the cloves – the garlic isn’t as strong this way)
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottom iron skillet or saucepan. Add the garlic and saut?. for a minute or two until the garlic is lightly golden and also a few flakes of red hot pepper or an intact pepperoncini.
- Flour and season the rabbit pieces, add them to the pan and brown. Turn and brown them on the other side.
- Once the rabbit is nicely golden-brown on both sides, remove the garlic and chili and add the other 1 cup of white wine. Allow the alcohol to evaporate a little and then cover and simmer the rabbit in the wine for 15 minutes. Turn the rabbit pieces and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.
- Add the cherry tomato halves, chopped parsley, thyme, parsley, rosemary, red chili flakes (if using), liver and kidneys (if you have them or want them)) and salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking uncovered for a few minutes until the tomatoes start to soften. Cover and continue to cook until the meat is done (another 30 minutes), adding a bit more wine as necessary to keep it from drying out and to obtain a nice sauce for the pasta.
- In the meantime, put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again.
- Once the meat is cooked, remove it from the pan to a plate and keep warm to serve separately
- Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet. When ready, save a cup of the cooking water and drain.
- Reheat the sauce, adding some of the pasta cooking water if it seems dry then add the pasta and mix everything together well so that the pasta gets coated in the sauce. Also save some sauce to put on top of pasta.
- Serve pasta immediately. Then serve rabbit as a second course with vegetables and salad.
