Garlic Roasted Rabbit

Allow me to share a delightful Czech recipe for roasted rabbit with garlic. Since rabbit meat is quite lean, I include slices of pork belly to enhance the juiciness and impart a perfect flavor to the dish.

Especially in the 20th century, domestic rabbit breeding was widespread in the Czech Republic. Rabbits were roasted in the oven, slowly stewed on the stove, or prepared with various sauces. The rabbit head and giblets were used to make a delicious white soup.

➤ The recipe I am presenting today is one of the best. The whole rabbit is rubbed with pressed garlic. Strips of pork belly and onions cut into rings are added, and everything is roasted until golden in the oven.

MY TIP: Try also these braised beef cubes (they taste heavenly!)

➜ Pronunciation

In Czech, this recipe is called "králík na česneku." To give you an idea of how these words sound in Czech, I have recorded a short audio clip for you.

➜ Ingredients

For an oven-roasted rabbit, you need:

• Rabbit; gutless, chilled, weighing around 5-6.5 lbs (2.5-3 kg)
• Pork belly; somewhat leaner, without skin and bones
• Onions
• Garlic
• Salt

Next, prepare water to baste the rabbit.

✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.

➜ Instructions with Photos

STEP 1: Clean the rabbit of any remaining hair, rinse with water and pat dry. Peel the onion and cut it into rings. Peel and press the garlic. Cut the pork belly into pieces about 1 and ½ inches (3-4 cm) thick.

STEP 2: Salt the pork belly. Rub the rabbit on all sides with garlic and salt.

STEP 3: Place the pieces of pork belly in the baking dish, then put the onions on top. Place the rabbit on the prepared base. Pour about ½ to ¾ cup (120-180 ml) of water over the rabbit.

STEP 4: Cover with a lid and cook.

How long to roast a rabbit? Roast the rabbit in an oven preheated to 340 °F (170 °C). After an hour, remove the lid. Bake for another 60-90 minutes until the water you've basted the roast with has evaporated. The rabbit will begin to roast (not stew). During this time, check that the meat does not overcook and baste it with the juices every 10-15 minutes.

After two to two and a half hours, the rabbit and pork belly are done.

➜ Serving

Potato dumplings and creamed spinach go well with this rabbit roast.

Arrange 4-6 dumplings per serving around the perimeter of the plate, and add rabbit and pork. Top the dumplings with the onion and juices. Finally, add a scoop of sautéed spinach.

➜ Useful Tips

• Rabbit meat is lean and does not contain much fat so that the roast may be dry. Therefore, a combination of roast rabbit with pork belly is very suitable. This method is how my granny roasted a rabbit, and I have to say that the rabbit and pork belly in her rendition was absolutely delicious.
• If you're going to bake the rabbit without the pork fat, it's a good idea to add pork lard to the roasting pan.
• You can reduce the baking time a bit if you pre-cut the rabbit. You can learn how to carve a rabbit in this video.

➜ How does rabbit taste like

Have you never eaten rabbit meat and don't know what it tastes like? Rabbit meat is low in fat, high in protein, and has a delicate flavor that some people describe as having a milder variation of chicken or turkey.

It can be cooked similar to other poultry, such as roasting, grilling, baking and searing. Rabbit will remain juicy if cooked correctly with enough liquid and seasoning; otherwise, it can become dry.

Rabbit meat pairs well with many herbs and spices to create delicious dishes.

More Czech recipes:

• Pork goulash
• Roasted pork shoulder
• Caraway soup
• Green spinach sauce