Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Stuffat tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew)
Malta’s national dish: slow-braised rabbit in red wine, tomato, and bay, the centerpiece of a village fenkata feast.
Maltese · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 120 min
~824 cal · 91g protein · 43g carbs · 22g fat · 7g fiber · 10g sugars · 6g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Rabbit stew, stuffat tal-fenek, is as close to a national dish as Malta has, and its importance is wrapped up in history. Under the rule of the Knights of St John, hunting rabbit was at times restricted for ordinary people, so sitting down to a rabbit feast, a fenkata, carried a quiet charge of defiance, an assertion of Maltese identity against foreign lords.
The stew itself is slow and deeply flavoured: rabbit browned and for hours with red wine, garlic, tomato, and bay until the meat falls from the bone and the sauce turns rich and dark. Villages still gather for all-night fenkata feasts, often tied to festas and celebrations.
A fenkata has its own sequence. First comes a plate of pasta or bread dressed in the rabbit gravy, eaten on its own, and only afterward the rabbit pieces themselves with the vegetables. The sauce, in other words, is honoured as much as the meat.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
3 lbs rabbit (or chicken), jointed
1.5 cups red wine
14 oz tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 onions
6 cloves garlic
2 carrots, chunked
3 potatoes, chunked
3 bay leaves
1 tsp each thyme and rosemary (fresh sprigs or dried)
1 cup peas
1/4 cup olive oil
for 4 crusty bread or pasta, to serve
Instructions
1
Marinate the rabbit (or mushrooms and beans) in the red wine and garlic for a few hours if you can.
2
Drain the rabbit (keeping the wine) and brown it in olive oil, then add the onions and cook until golden.
3
Return the reserved wine with the tomatoes, tomato paste, bay, thyme, rosemary, and water to cover.
4
Simmer with the lid ajar for 90 minutes (30 for the plant version).
✎ Chef’s note
Rabbit is lean and can dry out, so keep the heat gentle and the lid ajar, letting it braise slowly until it pulls from the bone.
5
Add the carrots and potatoes for the last 30 minutes, and the peas for the last 10.
6
Serve the traditional Maltese way: the gravy tossed with pasta as a first course, then the rabbit with bread to mop up.
Maltese fenkata tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Valletta. Valletta's honey-stone streets hide slow Sunday cooking: rabbit stewed long in wine and garlic, the island's signature dish. Maltese food sits between Sicily and North Africa, with pastizzi pastries, broad beans, capers, and sun-dried tomato.
🗺️
Malta. Maltese food blends Sicilian and North African influences on a rocky Mediterranean island, rabbit stew (fenek), flaky pastizzi, and hearty bread. Local cheeselets, capers, and sun-ripened produce define the plate.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Malta
Timpana (Baked Macaroni Pie)Tubular pasta in a rich meat-and-tomato sauce, bound with egg and cheese and baked inside a pastry case until golden, then cut into slabs.
PastizziDiamond-shaped flaky pastries filled with ricotta or mushy peas, Malta's favorite savory bite.
FtiraA crusty ring of Maltese bread filled with tuna, tomato, capers, and olives, the island's sun-soaked sandwich.
Browse all Malta recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Malta meal
ImqaretDessert
FtiraLunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Stuffat tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew)?
Malta’s national dish: slow-braised rabbit in red wine, tomato, and bay, the centerpiece of a village fenkata feast.
Where does Stuffat tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew) come from?
Stuffat tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew) is a Maltese dish from Valletta, Malta.
Can Stuffat tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Stuffat tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Stuffat tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Stuffat tal-Fenek (Rabbit Stew) take to make?
About 145 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 120 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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