Kouneli kokkinisto me hilopites - Greek braised rabbit with prunes and Greek hilopites pasta
Κουνέλι κοκκινιστό με ξερά δαμάσκηνα και χυλοπιίτες
Published originally on my blog on 11 May 2014
It’s been raining endlessly for the past couple of days which ruined our plans of going out and enjoying a Sunday morning thrift-shopping, coffee-drinking and strolling around the city. Instead we are stuck inside, watching the huge raindrops fall on the balcony creating little puddles where the wooden floor is uneven and hearing the distant thunder roar like a hurt lion.
We’re not complaining though; we have each other, Billie on the stereo, good food, a nice bottle of red wine waiting to be opened and a pan of yesterday’s braised rabbit with prunes to feast on.
I love how cravings change as soon as the weather turns. A few days ago I was longing for salads and greens but when a slight chill and the rain returned, albeit for a little while I’m sure, the craving for something heartier ensued.
We had this for dinner yesterday; kouneli kokkinisto (κουνέλι κοκκινιστό) or, in case you don’t speak Greek, braised rabbit in a rich tomato and red wine sauce with dried prunes and fresh herbs, served with hilopites (traditional Greek pasta).
In Greece we eat a lot of rabbit, with the most well-known dish being kouneli or lagos stifado, which is rabbit or hare cooked in a tomato sauce with lots of onions. This dish here however is a kokkinisto; the term kokkinisto refers to any type of meat dish that’s cooked in a tomato sauce. I had some dried prunes around and lots of herbs I had bought from the market, and along with onions, garlic and a little Merlot, this beautiful dish was created.
Rabbit is wonderful, and if you have never tried it, it’s something you should put on your list. Its meat is lean, slightly sweet and faintly gamey and if cooked right, very tender and extremely flavorful. When you slow cook rabbit in the type of sauce I made here, then it remains juicy and tender. Actually, it was falling off the bone and it was as succulent as it could be.
It had a mellow flavor, with a sweetness running through it from the warming spices and prunes, as well as freshness and woodiness from the fresh herbs. The fruitiness of the wine came through, adding great depth of flavor and along with the pasta it made for the perfect rainy-day dinner.
