Stuffat tal-fenek — Maltese rabbit braised with wine, tomatoes, and garlic

Have ready a heavy pot with a capacity of about 5 l and a diameter of about 28 cm, with a well-fitting lid. Inspect the rabbit portions, remove any loose bone fragments, and thoroughly pat the meat dry with paper towels. Season with 4 g salt and all the pepper. Dice the onion, cut the carrot into slices about 1 cm thick, and finely chop the garlic; prepare the potatoes later, during braising.

Heat 20 g olive oil over medium-high heat and brown half the rabbit for about 8–10 minutes in total, turning the pieces until lightly browned. Transfer to a bowl, add the remaining 20 g olive oil, and brown the other half in the same way. Leave some space between the pieces and lower the heat if the residue starts to burn. Keep all the fat in the pot and all the juices from the bowl; the meat will finish cooking in the sauce.

Lower the heat to medium, add the onion and carrot to the fat remaining in the pot, and cook for about 8–10 minutes, stirring, until the onion softens. Add the garlic, stir for about a minute, then add the tomato paste and cook for about another minute. Pour in all the wine and use a wooden spoon to scrape up and dissolve the browned residue from the bottom. Cook without a lid for about 4–5 minutes so the wine starts to reduce.

Add the tomatoes with all their juice, the first 300 ml water, the bay leaves, thyme, and remaining 4 g salt, then return the rabbit with all its juices. The liquid should reach about half or two-thirds of the height of the meat; use some of the measured reserve water if needed. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and braise over low heat for about 60–90 minutes until the meat is almost tender, turning the pieces about halfway through. Keep the simmer gentle and add water from the same reserve only if too much sauce evaporates; use up to an additional 200 ml hot water in total. If the rabbit is still tough, extend this stage before adding the potatoes.

Toward the end of the first braising stage, peel the potatoes, weigh out 600 g, and cut into pieces about 3 cm across. Slip them between the rabbit portions so they touch the sauce, and gently move the pot. Once a gentle simmer returns, cover and braise for about another 30–40 minutes until the potatoes are completely tender and the meat is cooked all the way through and easy to separate from the bones. Halfway through, carefully swap the potatoes on top with those in the sauce; extend braising if they still resist the tip of a knife.

When the rabbit and potatoes are tender, check the sauce: it should coat the ingredients while remaining fluid. If it is very thin, cook without a lid for about 5–10 minutes, gently moving the pot rather than breaking up the meat with a spoon. Add all the frozen peas, wait for a gentle simmer to return, and cook for about 5 minutes until the peas are cooked. Taste the sauce and only then add up to the remaining 2 g salt as needed.

Turn off the heat, remove both bay leaves, and leave the pot covered for about 10 minutes. Divide all the meat, potatoes, carrot, peas, and all the sauce with its olive oil among four servings. Serve warm; the rabbit stays on the bone, and the inedible bones and cartilage are set aside while eating.