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Cotechino with Lentils

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January 2, 2019

Cotechino is not a food I grew up eating.  It entered my food canon through my husband’s family, Northern Italians all!

Over the years we’ve melded together our different family traditions.  Although there’s some variability from year-to-year based on travel plans and invitations to the homes of family and friends, our usual sequence goes something like this.

Cotechino purchased at Eataly in Los Angeles. We had one on Christmas Eve and two on New Year’s Eve. The last one is in the freezer waiting for my return from Italy.

Pasta Ascuitta on Christmas Eve harkens back to my childhood when Christmas Eve dinner was a groaning table full of seafood at Aunt Margie and Uncle Joe’s house.  Pasta Ascuitta was only one of many dishes, including Baccala cooked in Tomato Sauce with Green Olives, Braised Stuffed Calamari, Breaded and Fried Cod, Spicy Mussels in a Garlicky Tomato Sauce, and on and on and on.  Mostly, now, we have a quiet Christmas Eve dinner with my in-laws at which we serve Pasta Ascuitta and call it quits!

That means somewhere else over Christmastime we have to fit in Baccala since it is a favorite of my in-laws.  This year we had it several days before Christmas.  I bought the baccala at Eataly in Los Angeles (on the second of my two trips to secure a visa for my three-plus months in Italy that start in early January).  It was truly the best baccala I have ever had.

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My family didn’t have any specific traditions for what was served on New Year’s Eve but New Year’s Day always saw Pork, Sauerkraut and Sausage with Dumplings.  That meal, repeated in one fashion or another in most homes in Johnstown, PA, pays homage to the original German founders of the town.

Somewhere around New Year’s Day my mother-in-law would make Cotechino with Brovada.  Brovada is turnips that are fermented in grape pomace left over from crushing and pressing grapes for wine.  Since Brovada is unobtainable (in my experience) in the United States, my mother-in-law would pickle turnips in red wine vinegar to create a reasonable substitute.  The turnips are peeled and shredded before cooking.  Brovada ends up tasting remarkably similar to sauerkraut.

Before Frank and I started spending New Year’s in Palm Springs, we would host a New Year’s Eve dinner at Villa Sentieri at which we served Cotechino as the appetizer course.  Although Cotechino is typically served with Brovada in Friuli, it is served with lentils in most of the remainder of Northern Italy.  I always opted for lentils for the New Year’s Eve dinner, leaving my mother-in-law to make it a second time with Brovada.

Many of our traditions got up-ended this year.  For Christmas Eve dinner we had Cotechino with Sauerkraut!  My mother-in-law did not make Brovada this year and said she preferred to have the Cotechino with Sauerkraut rather than Lentils.  I used the sauerkraut portion of my recipe for Pork with Sauerkraut.  It was a great combination.  I also made Dumplings just because everything is better with dumplings.

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That means we didn’t have Pasta Ascuitta on Christmas Eve for the first time in I-don’t-know-how-many years!

The cotechino with sauerkraut and dumplings we had on Christmas Eve.

Even though we didn’t host New Year’s Eve dinner this year, I was assigned the task of making the first course for the dinner hosted by our friends John O’Malley and Bob Reddington in Palm Springs.  I jumped at the chance to make Cotechino with Lentils.  The Cotechino came from Eataly in Los Angeles, and like the Baccala, was excellent.

As I’m writing this blog on the first of the year, and contemplating what to make for dinner today after a holiday season marked by over-consumption and with no time to recover before leaving for my three months in Italy on January 7th, I think we may just have Spaghetti with Garlic, Oil and Red Pepper.  Pasta Ascuitta will need to wait for another year!

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 Cotechino with Lentils
The lentils make a wonderful dish on their own without the cotechino. The lentils are better if made a day or two in advance and refrigerated. For added flavor, let most of the broth evaporate during the first 30 minutes then add enough of the cotechino cooking water, skimmed of fat, to make the lentils loose but not soupy. If the broth has salt, it may be necessary to reduce the amount of salt called for in the recipe. Save the fennel fronds to garnish the cotechino, if desired.
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Course Appetizers and Nibbles, Mains, Meats
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 1/2 hours
Servings
people as an appetizer
Ingredients
For the Lentils
For the Cotechino
Course Appetizers and Nibbles, Mains, Meats
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 1/2 hours
Servings
people as an appetizer
Ingredients
For the Lentils
For the Cotechino
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Instructions
For the Lentils
  1. Cut off the stalks of the fennel before dicing.
  2. Reserve the fennel fronds for garnishing.
  3. Sauté the carrot, onion, fennel, and garlic in the olive oil in heavy-bottomed Dutch oven until the vegetables begin to soften, approximately 15 minutes.
  4. Add the broth and bay leaf. Boil gently, partially covered, for 15 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, rinse and drain the lentils.
  6. Add the lentils to the broth. Bring the lentils to a gentle boil, partially covered, and cook approximately 30 minutes, adding salt and pepper after the first 15 minutes.
  7. If making the lentils in advance, remove them from the heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate.
  8. When ready to serve, bring the lentils to a gentle boil with enough of the cotechino cooking liquid, or water, to loosen them but not make them soupy. Cook until tender but not mushy, approximately 10-15 minutes longer.
  9. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
For the Cotechino
  1. Prick the sausages in several places using a pin. If the holes are large the casing may split during cooking.
  2. Put the cotechino in a large pot, cover with cold water, simmer, covered, approximately 2 ½ hours.
  3. Mince the fennel fronds while the cotechino cooks.
  4. The cotechino is best served piping hot as soon as is it removed from the cooking liquid.
  5. Slice the cotechino.
  6. Plate several slices of cotechino on top of some of the lentils and garnish with minced fennel fronds, if desired.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2019 by Villa Sentieri, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Recipes

Auntie Helen’s Lentil Salad

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May 18, 2018

Auntie Helen had a way with lentils.

In addition to making lentil salad for summer cook-outs, she taught me that cooked lentils, topped with homemade tomato sauce, make a great main (or side) dish for a cold winter’s day.

Auntie Helen liked her scotch.  On the rocks.  And she was not shy about quantity.

Auntie Louise liked gin.  Also on the rocks.  Also not shy about quantity.

It was mostly under their tutelage that I went from drinking Bourbon Manhattans (Old Grand Dad at the time) to Bourbon, also on the rocks.  This was somewhere around the age of 19.

Auntie Helen in 1976

I soon made the jump from Old Grand Dad to Jack Daniels, which remained my tipple of choice for decades.  Now I’ve branched out to a wide array of bourbons but always on the rocks and in respectable quantities.

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Auntie Helen and Auntie Louise were born, shortly after the turn of the 20th century, in a palazzo in Rome, now part of the American Embassy.  After their parents lost everything for the second time (there was talk that the first time it happened, they were bailed out by one of the Stroganoffs) the family emigrated from Italy to America.  Their father, a Count in Italy, worked delivering bread in Trenton, NJ.

Auntie Helen and Auntie Louise both became schoolteachers.  Neither married.  They lived together their entire lives.

They had a sweet little house on Yardley Road, just steps from the Yardley town line, in Morrisville, New Jersey.  I spent many weekends at their house, a little over an hour from where I lived in Philadelphia.

Auntie Helen did the cooking.  Auntie Louise made drinks and helped to clean up.

Auntie Louise in 1976

Though they came from a background that was more privileged than most immigrants of the time, they had little by the time the family got to the United States.  They did what many immigrants did, they assimilated and became almost “hyper” American.  I never heard either of them speak a word of Italian.  And, while Auntie Helen cooked an array of Roman specialties, she also cooked a lot of American food, including Impossible Pies, more the savory ones than the sweet ones; homemade Pumpkin Chiffon Pie (the only thing she cooked that I didn’t like); and cheese and egg strata for brunch (with lots of bacon on the side!).

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I recently found a series of Impossible Pie recipes that Auntie Helen wrote out for me.  I can’t promise that I’ll make each of them, but I will post the recipes, in her own handwriting.  If nothing else, they’ll be a bit of a time capsule.

Meanwhile, please enjoy my take on Auntie Helen’s lentil salad.

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 Auntie Helen's Lentil Salad
Auntie Helen’s lentil salad was more of a general concept that a definitive recipe. Feel free to add other ingredients to this, like a handful of chopped black oil-cured olives, some sliced scallions, or a sprinkling of dry oregano. You can replace some of the olive oil with the oil from a can of anchovies or add a teaspoon of anchovy paste if you’d like. It will add an umami touch without tasting fishy.
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Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Sides
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Passive Time 8 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Beans, Nuts and Legumes, Sides
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Passive Time 8 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
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Instructions
  1. Wash and pick over the lentils but do not soak them.
  2. Drain the lentils.
  3. Combine the lentils and water.
  4. Bring the lentils to a boil and gently boil until just tender, 10-15 minutes, or maybe a little more based on your elevation.
  5. Drain the lentils.
  6. Mix the hot lentils with the diced onion, oil, and rosemary. Stir well.
  7. Bury the bruised garlic clove in lentils.
  10. Loosely cover the lentils and cool at room temperature.
  11. When the lentils are cool, they can be refrigerated for up to three days before proceeding.
  12. To finish the lentil salad, remove the garlic clove and discard.
  13. Dice the roasted red pepper.
  14. Add the diced roasted red pepper, vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix well and chill thoroughly.
  15. Remove the lentil salad from the refrigerator approximately one hour before serving.
  16. Adjust salt and pepper before serving. Add more olive oil if the lentils seem dry.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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Recipes

Mom’s Lentil Soup

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January 26, 2018

My father liked soup.  Actually, my father really, really liked soup.  Every few weeks my mother would make beef noodle soup as it was one of my dad’s favorites.  Beef noodle is the soup we had most often.  Goulash was the “stew” we had most often.  In fact, I don’t remember my mother ever making an American-style beef stew.

The first American-style beef stew that I ever made was from a recipe that my sister started using after she got married.  It was definitely not one of our family recipes, though it was good.

After the beef noodle soup that my mother made on a regular basis, other soups were just occasional affairs, though soups of various types appeared often on our table.

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Italian “Wedding” Soup was a favorite but not something that we had more than a three or four times a year.  Everyone in the family really loved Wedding Soup but, honestly, it’s a lot of work.  It’s coming to the blog next month but today we have my Mom’s Lentil Soup.

My parents in 1981

Let’s face it, lentil soup isn’t something people swoon over.  At best it is good comfort food.  That’s exactly what this is for me.

It’s also easy to make.  A few minutes of chopping and some stirring off-and-on are rewarded with a really good pot of soup.

My mother’s lentil soup was unusual in that she put enough black pepper into it to create a distinct bite.  The first time I tasted it, as an adolescent, I was surprised by how peppery it was but I loved it.   Whether or not you add that much black pepper is entirely your choice but, in my mind, it’s the black pepper that sets my mother’s lentil soup apart from the pack.

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Consistent with my mom’s low-and-slow philosophy, this soup is cooked longer that would be typical, for the average American cook at least.  Despite the long cooking, the lentils remain intact though soft.  They don’t really fall apart the way that dry beans might.

This soup freezes well so a big batch shouldn’t be a problem.

While a ham bone makes great lentil soup, it’s not something that most households have on a regular basis but a handful of baked ham or a few ounces of bacon make an awfully tasty soup.

If you have a favorite family recipe and a bit of a story to tell, please email me at santafecook@villasentieri.com and we can discuss including it in the blog. I am expanding the scope of my blog to include traditional recipes from around the country and around the world. If you haven’t seen Bertha’s Flan or Melinda’s Drunken Prunes, take a look.  They will give you an idea of what I’m looking for.

 

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 Mom's Lentil Soup
When my mother made this soup, she added enough black pepper to give it a distinct bite. The addition of a bay leaf is my only modification of the original recipe.
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Course Soups and Stews
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 1/2 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Soups and Stews
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 1/2 hours
Servings
people
Ingredients
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Wash and pick over the lentils then drain.
  2. Shred the carrot on the tear-drop side of a box grater.
  3. Put all the ingredients in a large stock pot.
  4. Cover and bring to a boil.
  5. Reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 2 to 2½ hours.
  6. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
  7. The soup should be thick and the lentils soft but intact.
Recipe Notes

Copyright © 2018 by VillaSentieri.com. All rights reserved.

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