Other than being very nice with your butcher to convince him to bone your rabbit, (making sure he does not throw the bones with head and ignoring all jitters). Otherwise try boning it yourself.
Start with the broth :
Cover the bones with water, and add the following ingredients : an onion, a couple of carrots, leak stems, 2 garlic cloves, 3/4 bay leaves, a couple of twigs of thyme, 10 peppercorns, 6/7 cloves, salt. a touch of chili can be added.
Then, most important, throw in some parmigiano crusts which you had the bad habit of dumping; this will add a je-ne-sait-quoi to the broth, which will make your friends marvel at the “fumé”… This is a tip I’ve rarely shared up to this day! You can later eat the melted crust on a toast. Delicious!
Let your concoction simmer. Add some water to keep the level. How long? very long, on low fire. The time it takes to drink a couple of glasses of Côte de Provence rouge, and prepare your Aubergine (see earlier recipe) starter. Filter when you deem it “à point” Discard the bones. (Don’t forget the crust!)
Then the rabbit jumps in:
Cut the salted and peppered rabbit in two, and in a relatively sized and oiled terrinne, put the fleshy side below, pare with a few carrots, leaks, turnips. Put the second half on top. A few bay leaves, a couple of twigs of thyme, pour in the broth in case you did not drink it yet. Cover with foil and cook in a medium oven for 2 hours or so.Serve covered with the remaining broth and over some Pappardelli. Add a few drops of Haute Provence (https://oliviera.com/product/haute-provence/) olive oil on the veggies, open a bottle of Côte de Provence, and hear your guests whistle.
Raise a toast to yours truly, as I’m sure to regret not being with you to share the masterpiece!