A rib sticking meal that takes minimum preparation and then cooks gently in the oven until the sauce becomes rich and the chicken, tender. Really best made with chicken on the bone which cooked low and slow results in deep flavour.
Serves 4 
120 mins 2-3 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken legs (thighs & drumsticks)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, sliced
300g baby potatoes, sliced in quarters
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped
1 tbsp thyme, finely chopped
150ml white wine
700ml pasatta
150g mixed olives, stoned
A small handful fresh basil
Salt & ground black pepper
Large casserole
Rabbit was a great food for country people for many years. Tomás O’Crohan in The Islandman tells us of the many rabbits they caught on the Blasket islands when he was young: ‘When we had all come to the boat and put the game together, we had eight dozen rabbits – a dozen a-piece.’ Maurice o’Sullivan in Twenty years A-Growing writes of the same island and rabbit stew: ‘We sat down to dinner, a savoury dinner it was – a fine stew of rabbits and plenty of soup.’ Young rabbits can be roasted – as with the body of the hare – and wrapped in bacon. Recipe from The Pleasures of the Table: Rediscovering Theodora Fitzgibbon.
