Traditional lepur çomlek

This is a traditional mediterranean slow cooked rabbit dish. the next day it tastes even better. The remaining sauce you can use the same week for example chicken. 

  

What you need:

• 2 rabbit legs
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 50ml/3 olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 4 whole allspice berries
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 150ml red wine
• 250 chicken stock, hot
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 5 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 400g shallots, peeled and left whole
• 1 tbsp sugar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

1. Put the dry rabbit legs in a plastic bag with the bay leaves and pour over the vinegar. Close and set aside to marinate for 2 hours in the fridge.
2. Preheat the oven to 160C.
3. Heat a couple of tablespoons of the olive oil in a casserole pan over a high heat and fry the rabbit legs in batches until they are well browned all over. Return all the legs to the pan along with the bay leaves from the marinade.
4. Add the garlic, allspice berries, cinnamon stick and red wine. Bring to the boil. Add the chicken stock, tomato purée, tomatoes and oregano. Season with salt and pepper and reduce to a simmer. Cover the pan, transfer to the oven and cook for 1½ hours until the rabbit is tender.
5. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and fry the baby onions gently, stirring frequently, until just golden-brown all over. Add the sugar after 5 minutes through to help them to caramelize. Put the onions into the pot containing the rabbit just before it’s done and stir through.
6. Serve with mashe potatoes, rice or pasta.