Lentils and cotechino have always been a classic dish for New Year’s Eve dinner. A traditional dish of good wishes, essential in many regions, especially in the Central-North, to wish a new year of wealth and prosperity.
The dish was born when an entire day, and often even two, was dedicated to New Year’s Eve dinner. And among the difficult things to prepare was also the cotechino. Which was serious stuff: with its rules (in very clear terms: either it was excellent or inedible) and its times (many hours).
Today everything is simpler. Also because there are pre-cooked cotechino for sale that are objectively good to eat despite being very easy and quick to cook. And from Pre-cooked cotechini have become by far the most popular.We also chose this option for our lentil and cotechino recipe.
However, it must be said that Butcher’s cotechino is something completely different.. No comparison can be made with pre-cooked industrial products. Of course, this involves completely different care, completely different times and also completely different costs. But once a year, with a minimum of effort (average costs vary from 12 to 18 euros/kg, with peaks around 30 euros) it is worth trying. [vedi sotto]
The recipe for lentils and cotechino that we propose is not typical of a single region, but is the most widespread in the central regions: from Romagna to Abruzzo. In fact, this is pretty much the most common Italian recipe. lentils and cotechino with tomato. The alternative is above all the traditional Milanese recipe, in white, with lentils stewed in a sautéed onion, bacon and sage.
The recipe is very simple. The greatest difficulty is in correct handling of lentils.
There are many varieties on the market, distinguished by flavor, color and size, but above all by the consistency of the skin and paste. That is, whether or not it is necessary to soak them before cooking them.
All traditional recipes required long soaking and cooking times, always exceeding one hour. And for the varieties of the time it was fine. Nowadays you can find lentils on sale that require 2 hours of soaking and 40-50 minutes of cooking. But peeled (i.e. skinless) lentils are also very popular and can be cooked in 12-15 minutes without soaking. It is clear that the execution of the recipe cannot be the same using such different lentils. So As for soaking and cooking times, follow the manufacturer’s instructions. in the packaging. With a minimum adaptation effort if the indications cited differ excessively from those given by us.
About precooked cotechino without indications other than those found on the packaging. However, we emphasize the need to truly respect these indications. In particular, pay attention to do not puncture the sous vide cooking package: water would enter and the cotechino could become tasteless and watery. Almost rubbish!
Additionally, it is better if the pre-cooked cotechino is left to cook a few minutes longer than indicated on the package. Let’s say, about 20% more than the indicated time.
Cotechino is a sausage composed of lean meat, butter and chicharrón (pork rind, hence the name), in addition to various spices. Everything closed in pork intestine.
It is, therefore, a sausage that is certainly not suitable for a weight loss diet. However not as fat as you imagineespecially in the case of quality artisan products.
In fact, compared to the cotechini of the past, the percentage of fatty parts is today considerably reduced. The same Pork is less fatty than before. So 100 grams of quality cotechino (equivalent to 2 thick slices) today they provide around 280-300 kcal. But if the quality goes down It can even reach 450 kcal.
The precooked product used for our lentils and cotechino recipe has a declared energy value of 346 kcal/100g. However, an amount that can be reconciled with a balanced diet if, as in this case, it is limited to consumption limited to a few times a year.
- 300 g dried lentils
- 1 pre-cooked cotechino of 500 g
- 400 g peeled tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Sage
- Laurel
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Rinse the lentils under running water, drain and pour into a not too large saucepan. Cover the lentils with cold unsalted water, without exaggerating: approximately 1 cm of water on the lentils is enough. Add a clove of garlic, a bay leaf and a couple of sage leaves. Bring to a boil and let simmer (not tumultuously) for the time needed to cook them perfectly. They should be consistent al dente, without overcooking. Season with salt 5 minutes before turning off. Then drain them (so they do not continue absorbing water) and remove the aromas. Cooking time can vary greatly depending on the variety of lentils used and whether you have soaked them or not. Regulate this following the instructions given by the manufacturer. If you need to add more water during cooking, do so but always a little and already boiling: adding cold water would harden the skin of the lentils.
- Place a saucepan with plenty of water on the heat and let it boil. When it starts to boil, submerge the bag of cotechino (without piercing it in any way) and let it simmer for the time indicated by the manufacturer. It takes 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the type and quality of the product.
- Meanwhile, chop the other clove of garlic and sauté it in a pan with 3 tablespoons of oil. We add 3 whole sage leaves and leave it on very low heat for a few minutes, as slow as possible. As soon as the garlic begins to brown, pour in the chopped peeled tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes over low heat and covered, stirring several times.
- Once the cooking time has elapsed, remove the cotechino, open the vacuum package that contains it and remove all the fatty cooking liquid. Then let it cool for 5 minutes, peel it and cut it into slices.
- Add the lentils to the tomato sauce, wetting everything with a saucepan of boiling water (about 70-80 ml). Mix, add salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring gently with a wooden spoon, so as not to break the lentils. Finally add the cotechino slices and cook for another 2-3 minutes, turning them several times into the lentils, but always gently. Turn off the heat, let the lentils and cotechino rest, covered, for a few minutes and serve immediately hot.
Artisanal cotechini are usually prepared in sizes between 500 and 1000 g. Smaller (300 g) and larger (up to 2 kg) cotechini are rarely found.
Cooking times vary from 2 hours for the 500 g piece about 3 and a half hours for the 1 kg one.
To cook, proceed as follows.. Leave the cotechino in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes and then prick it on all sides. The holes are dense (approximately 1 every 4 square cm) but fine: they must be made with a wool needle or a toothpick cut in half. Do not make larger holes (do not use a knife, much less a fork) because this would create cracks in the casing, with bad effects on cooking.
Then wrap the cotechino in a clean white cloth, adhering it well to the casing: tie it loosely if necessary. Then place it in a pot covered with cold water without salt. Turn on the heat (as slowly as possible, preferably at minimum and also with a flame arrester) and bring to a boil very slowly. The latter hardly needs mentioning: Instead of simmering, the water should simply shake. If this does not convince you, lengthen the cooking times, but do not increase the heat: the sausage casing could break and if this happens the cotechino becomes watery and flavorless.
When it is cooked, we remove it from the boiling water, remove the cloth and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Then we cut it into slices, letting the diners remove the skin.
Cotechino is an ideal accompaniment with mashed potatoes or pumpkin, buttered spinach, stewed cabbage, stewed beans or lentils.