Rabbit Sauce for Pasta

On popular request I'm going to post a very successful rabbit recipe. This recipe produces a very rich and slightly sweet sauce which goes especially well with pasta.


Recipe Origin: Rabbit with Aniseed Liqueur

Serves: 3-4 persons

Ingredients:

• 1 rabbit cut in pieces
• 2 chicken cubes
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 shot of Aniseed/Anise/Ouzo/Pernod liqueur
• 475ml red wine
• 1 tablespoon Worchester Sauce
• 100grams currant/sultanas
• 500g frozen peas
• 250g tomato paste 
• 2 tablespoons curry
• 1/4 teaspoon mixed spices
• 5 bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 200g butter
• salt
• pepper

Method:

1. Saute 3 bay leaves and the garlic cloves in 2 tablespoons oil and 150g butter. Stir occasionally;
2. Add the rabbit pieces, turning frequently until browned all over;
3. Add a glass of red wine and the anise liqueur. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes turning  the rabbit occasionally;
4. Transfer the rabbit to a warm serving dish and keep it covered;
5. In the meantime, fry the onions in the remaining oil and butter. Add the tomato concentrate, the sugar, salt and pepper. Stir;
6. Add water gently to this mixture;
7. Add curry, mixed spices, the chicken cubes, currents, the remaining bay leaves, the remaining red wine and the Worchester sauce;
8. After a few minutes add the fried rabbit including its sauce and simmer on low flame for around 30 minutes;
9. Cook the pasta according the packets instructions;
10. At this point I usually remove the rabbit bones since the sauce tastes much better without the bones. Return the boneless rabbit meat to the sauce;
11. Add the peas and simmer for another 15 minutes;
12. Serve with the cooked pasta.

Modifications from the original recipe:

• I usually buy 2 rabbits and use the front and hind legs in another rabbit recipe (rabbit in white wine and garlic) while using the remaining rabbit body parts for this stew;
• I reduced the amount of chicken cubes from the original recipe so that's the stew is less salty. Add another chicken cube if you want a saltier sauce;
• The original recipe uses canned peas however I prefer using frozen peas.

[Image Source: Paul's Flickr]

Tradtional Maltese Easter Figolli

Figolli are a traditional Easter dessert made from a biscuit pastry with an almond filling. Typically they are decorated with icing or chocolate. Most figolli are given a shape, in the past this used to be an Easter related shape however nowadays shapes vary from fish, baskets, heart shapes and many others. In my family we also had Garlfield's face as a standard shape! We used to bake these every year with my mum when young and nowadays even though I don't prepare them on a yearly basis anymore I still use the same recipe that we used back then.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

• 800 grams plain flour
• 1.5 packets margarine (roomboter)
• 2 eggs
• 250 grams sugar
• 1 lemon juice and peel
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Filling:

• 400 grams pure almonds
• 400 grams sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon almond essence
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice (Specific ingredients vary from brand to brand but typical components are(1/4 tbsp cinnamon, 1/4 tbsp nutmeg, 1/4 tbsp allspice, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 tsp mace, 1/4 tsp ground cloves)
• 1 orange juice and peel

Design

• 2 big milk/dark chocolate
• A couple of easter eggs

Icing Design

• 225-250 grams sieved icing sugar
• 1 egg white
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Method:

General Directions:

1. Prepare pastry and leave for 2 hours or overnight;
2. Mix filling ingredients together;
3. Prepare figolli design;
4. Cook at 180 degrees;
5. Once cool, melt chocolate and cover pastry;
6. Once dried add icing design.

Preparing the pastry:

1. Mix the margarine and sugar until the mixture turns whitish in colour;
2. Add the flour, eggs, lemon juice, lemon peal and vanilla essence;
3. Continue mixing until the pastry is of the right consistency. If the pastry is still sticky add some more flour. If the pastry is very dry add a teaspoon of water;
4. Leave to rest.

Preparing the filling:

1. Crush the almonds into powder consistency;
2. Mix all ingredients together.

Icing directions:

1. Beat the egg white;
2. Add lemon juice and icing sugar bit by bit;
3. It should now be smooth and shiny;
4. Make sure the icing is not very wet and can keep a given shape;
5. Add more icing sugar if icing is very wet.

Assembly:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius;
2. Roll the pastry to around 3 mm consistency;
3. Cut into desired shape. This will be the base of the figolla;
4. Cut more pastry in the same identical shape. If possible cut it 5 mm bigger than the base;
5. Place a 1 cm layer of filling on top of the base;
6. Keep the filling around 1 cm away from all borders;
7. Wet the border of the base with water;
8. Cover the base and filling with the top pastry layer;
9. Press the top and bottom pastries together at the borders;
10. Place in oven and cook until the pastry has a bit of colour;



11. Melt chocolate;
12. Cover the shaped figolla with the melted chocolate;





13. Let dry completely;
14. Once dry decorate with the icing sugar.

Traditional Maltese Bread Pudding - Pudina tal-Hobz

Maltese people eat a lot of bread and on many occasions they have extra bread that is not fresh enough to eat by itself but would be a waste to throw away. This is when making a bread pudding comes in handy. I have come up with the ingredients from my mum's recipe which didn't have any amounts at all! What makes a bread pudding great is that apart from the bread you can add whatever ingredients you like best.

I myself barely eat bread nowadays (you know all those carbs!)  so tried to buy the old store bought bread that's usually also on discount!

I've served this recipe a while back to a few Maltese people living away from Malta to make them remember the tastes from home!

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf of stale bread. Both white or brown will yield a good pudding
• 3 cups of milk (or more if necessary)
• 125 grams butter. You can opt for less butter if you wish.
• 1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 100 grams sugar (or to taste)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon powdered cloves
• 100 grams chocolate chips
• 10 tablespoons coconut flakes
• Dried/fresh mixed fruit and nuts of your choice. I use:
• 1 banana
• 1 apple (shredded)
• 1 pear (shredded)
• handful of sultanas
• handful of cherries
• handful of candied peel
• 100 grams hazelnuts
• 1/2 mandarin peel
• 1/2 lemon peel
• 1/2 orange peel
• 100 grams dates

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C;
2. Smear a dish that can go in the oven with butter and line with baking paper;
3. Use only the soft part of the bread and break into small chunks;
4. Dip the bread in milk. Make sure that the bread absorbs all the milk. Throw away any extra milk by squeezing the milk out of the bread;
5. Kneed the bread into a mush;
6. Add the sugar, butter, eggs, cinnamon and cloves and mix together until smooth;
7. Cut/shred all dried and fresh mixed fruit in small pieces. The bigger pieces the chunkier the pudding;
8. Mix all dried and fresh fruit and chocolate chips in the bread mixture;
9. Add most of the coconut flakes to the mixture leaving a small portion to cover the top;
10. Move the pudding to the oven dish and cover the top with the remaining coconut flakes; 
11. Place in the oven and cook for around 45 minutes to an hour;
12. Leave the pudding to rest before serving.

How the recipe was written before! No measures at all! The language of the text is Maltese. Please ignore all my spelling mistakes.

Pastizzi tal-Pizelli - Pea Cakes

Pastizzi come in 2 tastes - pea and cheese cakes. Last time I gave the recipe of the cheese cakes, but these pea cakes are just as important.

My recipe is a quicker and modified version from the original but it tastes just as quick.

Recipe Origin: Celt Net

Ingredients:

• 300g canned peas. You can substitute with dried peas but then you should soak the peas for at least 5 hours.
• 100g finely chopped onions
• pepper
• salt
• curry powder
• 1 egg
• 750g puff pastry
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

1. Heat a little oil in a pan.
2. Add the onions and fry until golden (about 8 minutes)

3. Add the peas, mix thoroughly then season with salt, black pepper and curry powder, to taste. 



4. Take off the heat and set aside. 
5. Pre-heat the oven at 180°C.
6. Roll out the pastry thinly. 
7. Cut out circles about 9cm in diameter from the pastry then brush the edges with egg wash. 
8. Put some of the pea mixture in each (offset from the centre)



9. Fold the pastry circle in half and seal the edges together. 







10. Transfer to a lightly-greased baking tray then brush the tops with egg wash. 
11. Transfer to an oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through. 
12. Serve warm.