Serves 2-4
Italian marinade for rabbit
1 To make enough marinade for one rabbit (or chicken), jointed, put a small bunch of fresh thyme and a small bunch of fresh rosemary into a mortar. Add a couple of cloves of garlic and the zest and juice of a lemon, plus a good glug of extra virgin olive oil. Mix, bash and crush to a fragrant pulp, then pour it over your bowl of rabbit pieces and rub it well into the meat. Marinate for an hour, then skewer and barbecue if you can – or roast in the oven if not – constantly turning and brushing with the marinade.
2 The joints cook at different speeds. Do the legs and shoulder first, add the belly 10 minutes later, then the saddle and ribs 10 minutes after that. Last but not least, pop in the kidneys and liver with some lovely pancetta. Serve with some white beans and good olive oil.
Classic tikka marinade
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1 For a rabbit snack that’s more Bombay Central Station than Grand Centrale Roma, I suggest smothering the meat in a classic tikka marinade. Again, this makes enough for one rabbit (or chicken), jointed.
2 Mix together 6 tbsp yoghurt, the juice of a lemon, a 2.5cm cube of fresh ginger, grated, 3 garlic cloves, peeled and grated, 1 tsp each ground cumin and salt, and ¼ tsp each of garam masala, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Slather the mixture over your rabbit pieces and marinate for 1 hour or longer – leave overnight for a more potent mix.
3 Thread it on wooden skewers (remembering to soak them in water for half an hour beforehand) and barbecue until crisp and tender. Serve on a bed of rice.