Delicacies of Rabbit with Baby Sweet Peppers

Bocconcini di Coniglio ai Piccoli Peperoni Dolci
If you like sweet peppers, you’ll love this dish; if you’re not a pepper fan, you have my permission to substitute them for thinly sliced carrots and zucchini (I did this for Wally, because peppers were not to his liking). Although rabbit is ideal for this dish, you have my permission to substitute chicken, squab, or capon, if desired.
As far as the deboning of rabbit – do it if you have guests who do not like using their hands while eating; otherwise, don’t waste your time deboning. Cut the rabbit up into about 6-8 pieces – many times the butcher will do this for you in advance if you call. What I usually do is pick out the rabbit (usually frozen), have the butcher thaw it and then cut it up to my specifications. All I do is pick it up the day before I plan to use it.
This is one of my favorite ways of preparing rabbit – it’s quick, uses few ingredients, and is so tasty!
Ingredients for 4:
1 lb of rabbit, with bones or deboned, in small pieces no bigger than the palm of your hand, and lightly salted
A bunch of red and green baby sweet peppers, seeded, and halved or quartered (depending on their sizes)
1 garlic toe
1 sprig of rosemary
About 1 c dry white wine
About half a glass of extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt, to taste
Pepper (optional)
Preparation:

Making sure the oil is hot, brown the rabbit pieces briefly in a good-sized frying pan. Add the peppers to the pan with the wonderful, perfume-scented rabbit, as well as 1 toe of garlic and the entire sprig of rosemary. Pour about a cup of white wine over the soffrito, letting ½ the wine evaporate, then add salt and [pepper].

Cover and let stew over a moderate flame for about 15 minutes. Remove cover, raise flame a bit, and finish cooking – it’s done when the liquid is mostly evaporated. Serve as a secondo piatto with a fruity white wine, such as a Friuli.
Mangia bene!