Thyme and tomatoes Rex du Poitou
For 4 people
• The saddle and thighs of a big rabbit (a “baron” of rabbit)
• A good bunch of thyme,
• 8 fine slices of bacon,
• A pork caul,
• 50g of butter,
• 4 tablespoons of oil,
• 2 onions,
• 4 garlic cloves,
• 1 kg of tomatoes,
• 1/3 litre of white wine
• 8 shallots,
• Salt, pepper,
• 100g of black olives,
• 1 small bouquet garni,
• ground parsley.
Chop the saddle and thighs of a big rabbit to get 8 pieces. Salt and pepper generously. Peel the shallots and chop them finely. Apply several twigs of thyme on each rabbit piece, sprinkle with a few shallots, then wrap a slice of bacon around each piece and, finally, wrap everything with a piece of pork caul. Without pork caul, fix the slices of bacon with the wood of matchsticks.
Brown the pieces
Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan. Brown the eight small pieces. Turn them often and make sure they don’t get untied. Add the finely chopped onions. Leave it until golden brown.
Oven cooking
When everything is golden, pour the pieces of rabbit and the onions in an oven compatible earthenware dish or cooker. Add the peeled, seeded and crushed tomatoes, the crushed garlic and the bouquet garni. Baste with white wine. Add salt and pepper. Leave it to cook for about 1 hour on medium heat. 10 minutes before the end of cooking, add the pitted olives.
Serve hot in the cooking dish after having sprinkled some parsley on top.
Serve with a full-bodied red wine.*
*Alcohol abuse is dangerous for health
