Polenta cuni finished dish
From Bergamo. Polenta e cüní. This is the most common Sunday lunch in Bergamo, and is one of the dishes I miss from my time living there. The are many variations on the recipe. This one comes from Slow Food Italy. Serves 4
Polenta cuni ingredients
- 1 rabbit, cut into portions
- 50g lardo, guanciale or fatty pancetta
- 100g butter
- 2 glasses of dry white wine (Slow Food recommends Valcalepio)
- 4 sage leaves
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 1 clove
Put the rabbit in a pan large enough to contain it in a single layer. Place over a high heat for a few minutes to completely dry out the pieces.
Polenta cuni lardo
Reduce the heat a little and add the lardo, butter, clove and sage. Brown the meat.
Polenta cuni browning the rabbit
Add the wine and let it evaporate, stirring from time to time.
Polenta cuni with wine
Reduce the heat to low, cover and continue cooking until the rabbit is tender. There shouldn’t be a lot of liquid while it’s cooking, but if it looks like drying out, add a little stock. The cooking time will vary according to the rabbit, but it will be at least two hours, maybe longer.
About five minutes from the end of cooking, add the remaining butter and the chopped rosemary. The rabbit should be quite dry, almost crispy on the outside, and moist on the inside.
Serve it with polenta made according to the instructions on the packet. If I don’t have a polenta machine available to stir it, I usually use the quick cooking variety. A lot of Bergamasci regard this as a heinous crime though 🙂
Culinaria Italia - Italian Food and Cooking 
I have wonderful memories of polenta e cuni every Sunday for brunch while living in Zingonia, outside Bergamo. My host mother’s variation included small sausages and a brown gravy; and we paired it with a sweet white wine. I didn’t know it was a common dish for the province.
Everybody’s mother or granny has their own secret recipe 🙂