Portugues Rabbit Stew (Coelho Guisado)
A luxurious braise of tender rabbit, aromatics and spices
Servings 3 people
Ingredients
The marinade
- 0.5 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 2 bay leaves torn
- 3 drops Portuguese piri-piri oil
- 3 cloves
- 1 blade mace optional
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground mixed pepper or black pepper
- 25 ml red wine
The stew
- 800 g rabbit bone-in and chopped
- 1 onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic diced
- 30 g chorizo sliced and cut into quarters
- 30 g bacon toucinho, or pancetta, in lardons
- 1/2 tomato roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp chili flakes
- 1 tbsp massa de pimentão Portuguese pepper paste
- 1 liter chicken stock
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbso parsley chopped
The rice
- 1 clove garlic thinly sliced
- 300 ml rabbit cooking liquid
- 200 g long-grain rice arroz de agulha (or another long-grain rice)
- 100 ml water
Instructions
The seasoning
- In a large bowl, mix 800g of bone-in rabbit, chopped into medium-to-large pieces, with the salt, mixed pepper, olive oil, garlic, bay leaf, cloves, mace and piri-piri. Add enough red wine to cover the meat half way, mix well, and set aside for two to six hours.
The stew
- Preheat the oven to 190°C / 370°F.
- Bring a large dutch oven or oven-proof pan over moderately high heat, add a tablespoon of good olive oil, sear the rabbit pieces for 1-2 minutes each side. Keep the remainder of the marinating liquid aside. The meat should sear, not steam, so work in batches if necessary. You’re looking for a dark brown outer colouring, but don’t spend too long on this step since the majority of the cooking time will be in the oven.
- Keeping a high heat, add the reserved marinading liquid to the pan and scrape up any dark residue on the base of the pan.
- Once the liquid has mostly evaporated, lower the heat to medium and add the onions, garlic, bacon and chopped chorizo. You want the vegetables to cook in the fat from the pork; if yours doesn’t have much fat, then add a tablespoon of olive oil first. Sautée, stirring regularly, for 2-3 minutes or until the onions have softened.
- Add the chopped tomato, a touch of salt, and sautée for a further 1-2 minutes.
- Add the chili flakes and massa de pimentão, and stir constantly for about 30 seconds, taking care not to burn the contents of the pan.
- Mix 1.5tbsp tomato paste with the chicken stock and add to the pot, then return the seared rabbit pieces.
- Season very lightly with salt (since there should already be plenty of salt in the pot from the other ingredients), then add 1/2tbsp whole black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf, cover, and place in the oven.
- Cook for 45-50 minutes, tasting halfway through for seasoning.
- When the rabbit meat is just tender, transfer the rabbit pieces a serving platter, add a few ladlefuls of the liquid over, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve alongside the rice.
- If you have too much liquid in your pan and want a thicker sauce, just take out all the meat, turn the heat to high and simmer down to your desired consistency.
The rice
- About 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time, take out 3 ladles (about 300ml) of the stewing liquid and set aside.
- In a fresh pan, add 1tbsp olive oil and the sliced garlic clove. Sautée for 30 seconds to a minute, taking care that the garlic doesn’t darken.
- Remove the garlic slices, add the rice and mix well. Add the reserved cooking liquid, and make up the rest of the cooking liquid with boiling water (to a 2-1 water-to-rice ratio). For 200g of rice, that would be 400ml of liquid.
- Cover the pan and cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn off the heat but keep the lid on to steam the rice for a further 5 minutes or until done.