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Ingredients:
Directions:
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy sauce pan and sauté the minced pancetta until browned.
Salt the rabbit pieces and sauté them until browned (do not crowd the pieces in the pan). Remove the rabbit and reserve.
Add the chopped onion and celery to the pan and sauté until wilted. Add the salt and stir.
Add the rabbit, crushed tomatoes, basil, sugar and cloves. Simmer for 1 hour or until rabbit pulls away from the bone.
Cool the rabbit pieces then debone being careful not to get any bony fragments in the meat.
Add 1/2 cup of the sauce to the meat (gives a richer, more complex taste) then grind the meat carefully in a food processor to make coarse forcemeat.
Add a small portion of sauce to the meat. The remaining sauce can be used for your favorite pasta.
Add the cheese, egg, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon zest to the meat and mix thoroughly.
Rinse the olives thoroughly with cold water to slightly desalt them. Pack the forcemeat around each olive (or half) to make 1 inch olive balls.
Roll the oliveballs in successive bowls of flour, beaten eggs, and then bread crumbs. You can freeze the oliveballs for later use but bring them to room temperature before frying (defrost or warm them slightly in a microwave).
Bring 2 quarts of Piconi's FryOil to a 4 quart sauce pan and heat the oil to 350 degrees. Fry the balls 6 at a time until golden brown. Oliveballs may be served at room temperature as an antipasto or appetizer.