First of all prepare the ragu: remove the head, innards and fat from the rabbit, wash it under running water and cut it into pieces. Wash and clean the vegetables, chop them and then sauté them in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan with the oil. Add the pieces of rabbit, season with salt and pepper, stir with a wooden spoon and cook over a moderate heat: if the meat “gives off” a little water, remove it with a spoon. Continue stirring and turning the pieces of meat so that they brown all over; it will take about 10-15 minutes. Now turn up the heat and add the white wine; when it has completely evaporated, put the lid on the pan, lower the heat and continue cooking (if the rabbit dries out too much, add a glass or two of hot water). Check to see if the rabbit is cooked by prodding a piece with the tip of the wooden spoon: when the meat comes away from the bone easily, it’s ready. Leave it to cool and transfer the pieces onto a chopping board. Remove all the meat from the bones – also using your hands if necessary – and chop it coarsely with a knife. Put it back in the pan and mix it with the cooking juices; cook for a few minutes to amalgamate everything and then turn off the heat.

Now move on to preparing the gnocchi: wash the potatoes well and then boil them, with their skins on, in plenty of salted water. While they are cooking, thinly slice the squash with its skin on, and put it in an oven dish lined with greaseproof paper; break up the rosemary, sprinkle over the squash and cover with baking foil. Cook in a preheated oven, at 180 °C, for roughly 15 minutes, then take it out and leave it to cool. Eliminate the rosemary, use a spoon or knife to remove the flesh of the squash from the skin, mash it with a potato masher and put it into a bowl. Go back to the potatoes and check to see if they’re cooked by pricking them with a fork: if it penetrates easily, they’re cooked. Drain them and peel them immediately, while still hot. Mash the potatoes as well and put them into the bowl with the squash. Sift the flour and put it in a pile on a pastry board, or your work surface, form a well in the centre and tip the contents of the bowl into it. Season with salt and (if you like) a pinch of nutmeg, mix everything together with your hands until you have a smooth, soft dough: knead the dough as little as possible so that it doesn’t harden. Break a piece off and, on a lightly floured pastry board, roll it with your hands to form a long rope the thickness of a finger. Cut it into pieces measuring about 2 cm and repeat until you have finished all the dough. Take the gnocchi and “drag” them – one at a time – over a grater, pressing with your thumb to create an indentation (which will also help to hold the sauce); as you make them, place them on a tray sprinkled with flour.

Cook the gnocchi in plenty of boiling, salted water. As soon as they come to the surface, use a skimmer to remove them immediately and put them in the pan with the warmed rabbit sauce. Gently toss the gnocchi for a few seconds and then serve.