Gnocchetti or Malloreddus recipe with rabbit ragout

Ingredients for 4 people:

• 400 g. of malloreddus or semolina dumplings
• half a rabbit or hare
• 400 g of peeled tomatoes
• an onion
• a carrot
• half dried tomato
• a stalk of celery
• a clove of garlic
• half a glass of red wine
• chilli
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• grated Parmigiano Reggiano or aged Sardinian pecorino

Preparation:

Buy the whole rabbit and cut it into pieces along the joints being careful not to crush the bones. Make very small pieces with the pulp and eliminating the stripped bones. Sometimes the butcher cuts the meat leaving bone chips which are very annoying and dangerous if you find them during the meal. If you find a wild hare in some frozen shop, the result will be even more intense and tasty. Once I found a frozen Argentinian hare, which I never found again. He managed to make an excellent ragu.

Here is the procedure for preparing a single dish with an original taste: finely chop the chilli pepper and remove the seeds, onion, carrot, dried tomato and celery. Very finely chop the garlic clove. In a large frying pan, fitted with a lid, fry the chopped meat in extra virgin olive oil and brown over high heat for a few minutes. Add the onion, carrot, celery, chilli and finally the garlic until golden brown. Shade with half a glass of red wine and let the alcohol evaporate. Add the well chopped peeled tomatoes and the glass of red wine, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat and cook over a very low heat for at least an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. If the sauce dries too much, add a little red wine.

When the ragù is ready, taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, cook the gnocchetti, I use the Sardinian malloreddus because they are also excellent for retaining the sauce, in plenty of salted water following the instructions on the package. Malloreddus are a type of Sardinian pasta made with semolina flour, water and sometimes saffron. They are small, oval in shape, have a good consistency and are easy to cook. It was once the favorite food that was taken on outings because it didn’t overcook, it was prepared in the morning and at lunchtime it was not yet al dente.

Drain the gnocchetti al dente and transfer it to the pan with the ragù and sauté. Mix well and cook for a few minutes.

As for the presentation on the table and if the diners like it, the dish can be completed with a generous sprinkling of grated Parmigiano Reggiano or aged Sardinian pecorino.

You can of course combine the gnocchetti with a robust Cannonau di Sardegna, or with an excellent Tuscan Chianti or even a Barbera del Piemonte. The wine must have enough tannins to cut through the richness of the dish and enough acidity to balance the sweetness of the rabbit meat.

Enjoy your meal!