Rabbit Soup

First, it is necessary to cook rabbit broth. I do this the night before to reduce the cooking time for the soup the next day. Usually, for soup, I use the parts of the carcass that are not suitable for stewing or don't look very presentable. This allows me to distribute the meat available and prepare at least two dishes from one carcass. This time, I used pieces from the back with bones and small trimmings that were not needed during the preparation of rabbit with mushrooms. In the evening, I boiled the pieces in water, adding salt and bay leaf. I cooled the broth and stored it in the refrigerator. In the morning, I removed the rabbit pieces from the broth, separated the meat from the bones, and strained the broth into a clean pot, adding clean drinking water to a volume of about 2 liters. Separately, put a pot of water on the heat for the pasta, let it boil.

Peel and dice the potatoes into small cubes. Add the potatoes and meat pieces to the broth.

Thoroughly rinse the leeks to remove any remaining sand, and then slice them thinly. Finely chop the peppers. It is better to use peppers of different colors to make the soup more vibrant, but you can also use only red peppers. Frozen peppers can also be used for this soup. I freeze pre-sliced peppers in zip-lock bags. Just take them out of the freezer, rinse them with warm water to defrost, and pat them dry with a paper towel.

Add the pasta to boiling water and cook it until it is almost al dente. Drain the water and add 1 tablespoon of sunflower or olive oil to the pasta to prevent it from sticking together.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, lightly sauté the leeks, then add the chopped peppers and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent the vegetables from burning.

Mash the tomatoes directly in their juice with a fork. Add the sautéed leeks and peppers to the soup, pour in the tomatoes. Instead of tomatoes in their own juice, you can also use homemade tomato sauce. However, I do not recommend using ketchup or tomato paste as they will only spoil the taste of the dish. Continue cooking until the potatoes are tender. Season the soup with spices and salt to taste.

If desired, you can add sliced olives to the soup. Add the pasta to the soup and stir. Serve the rabbit soup hot, garnished with optional herbs.

Another option for serving this soup is with cream and cheese. Grate the cheese on a fine grater and sprinkle it over the hot soup in the bowl just before serving. You can also serve the cheese in a separate bowl so that each person can add as much cheese as they like. As for the cream, you can either add it directly before serving or pour about 200 ml of cream into the pot and bring the soup to a boil (do not boil!) to prevent the cream from curdling. If the tomato dressing is too acidic, the cream may still curdle, although it won't affect the taste.