Coniglio alla Ligure — Rabbit Braised with Olives, Pine Nuts, and Herbs

Liguria — coniglio alla ligure is found throughout the Ligurian interior, where rabbit farming was traditional in households without space for larger livestock. The Taggiasca olive from the Imperia province gives the preparation its Ligurian identity.

Coniglio alla ligure is the Ligurian rabbit preparation — a braise in which the rabbit pieces are cooked slowly with dry white wine (Vermentino or Pigato), Taggiasca olives (the small, mild Ligurian olive), pine nuts, rosemary, thyme, and — in the full traditional version — dried mushrooms soaked in warm water. The combination of mild Taggiasca olive, pine nut, and Ligurian herb (marjoram is the defining Ligurian herb, less used elsewhere) produces a sauce that is specifically Mediterranean in character: olive-fruity, slightly sweet from the pine nuts, and deeply aromatic from the herbs. The rabbit braises until the meat begins to fall from the bone.

• Rabbit braised with Mediterranean olives, herbs, and white wine — the Provençal lapin aux olives (with Niçoise olives, thyme, and rosemary) and the Ligurian coniglio alla ligure are essentially the same preparation on opposite sides of the Alpes-Maritimes; the Taggiasca olive and the Niçoise olive are from the same olive variety → Lapin aux Olives (Rabbit with Olives) French · Provençal
• Rabbit braised in white wine with olives and aromatics — the Catalan conill amb olives and the Ligurian coniglio alla ligure share the wine-braised rabbit with Mediterranean olive technique; the Catalan version uses arbequina olives; the Ligurian uses Taggiasca; the pine nuts and marjoram are specifically Ligurian → Conill amb Olives (Catalan Rabbit with Olives) Spanish · Catalan

Coniglio alla ligure after its long braise has a sauce of Mediterranean fragrance — the Taggiasca olives have given their mild fruitiness; the pine nuts have become soft and slightly sweet; the marjoram and rosemary are assertively present; the wine has reduced to a clean acidity. The rabbit meat is tender and slightly sweet from the mild Ligurian olive. With Ligurian focaccia to absorb the sauce, it is the essential Ligurian secondo.