Coniglio affogato alla Ligure (rabbit stew Ligurian style)

For ➍
1 rabbit, 1½ kg, cut into pieces

15 cl extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced 

1 clove of garlic, coarsely chopped 

rosemary sprigs 

sage leaves 

small thyme sprig 

100 g black (taggiasca) olives 

2 glasses of dry white wine* 

8 tbs tomato pulp (polpo di pommodore with pieces) 

salt & pepper 

flour 

50 -100 cl stock*

Wash the rabbit pieces. Pat them dry and roll them in the flour. Beat them off. 

Heat the oil in a casserole. Brown the rabbit. Add the onion, garlic, herbs and olives. Cook the onion on a low heat. Stir in the wine and let it evaporate by half.* Mix in the tomatoes, salt and pepper. 

Stew the rabbit for 1½ h on a medium heat. 

If necessary, add stock to keep it moist. Serve with gnocchi or polenta.

*If wanted, replace some wine with some stock. 

Pasta battuto (pasta with Ligurian pine nut sauce)

For ➍
100 g crushed pine nuts
2 sprigs of marjoram
50 g Parmigiano
pinch of salt
extra virgin olive oil
a little milk

Blend the ingredients, just adding enough olive oil and milk to make the mixture smooth.
Cook the pasta as usual and mix in the fresh sauce when it's ready. Use a roughly textured pasta with battuto.
Serve pasta battuto with a fresh salad. (Or eat it first and follow it with the salad).

Liguria is the Italian Riviera, with San Remo as main attraction. This battuto is close to pesto, and quite different from the traditional battuto, used in Roman cooking, an initial preparation, that can be developed into a sauce, a stew or a soup, like the Lazio minestra col battuto alla romana. Read a related Ligurian recipe, pasta with walnuts sauce.

Salsa con le noci per ravioli (walnuts sauce for ravioli)

For ➍
75 g walnut meats, peeled & minced
30 cl milk
3 tbs butter
4 tbs flour
salt & white pepper
700 g meat-free ravioli

Shell the walnuts, scald the nutmeats in boiling water for a few s, then peel and mince them.

Make a béchamel sauce by melting the butter in a small pot and carefully stirring in the flour. Continue cooking over low heat till the flour is lightly browned. Slowly add the milk in a thin stream, stirring briskly to keep lumps from forming.* When you’ve added all the milk, season with salt and pepper and continue cooking, stirring gently, till the sauce thickens (this will take several m). Then add the walnuts.

Meanwhile, cook the ravioli in boiling salted water, drain them, and carefully stir the sauce into them.

*If they do, stop adding milk, remove the pan from the fire, and stir the mixture till the lumps are gone before adding more milk. You can also make the béchamel sauce in a microwave oven: melt the butter and stir in the flour, then stir in the milk and the salt and pepper. Heat the sauce over high heat for 2 m and stir it briskly till most of the lumps are gone. Heat it for 4 more m at medium power, stirring after 2 m, then stir in the walnuts and heat 1 more m. Let it sit for a couple of m.

Read another Ligurian recipe, the related pine nut battuto recipe.