{"id":6047,"date":"2019-01-02T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=6047"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:58:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:58:40","slug":"cotechino-with-lentils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/02\/cotechino-with-lentils\/","title":{"rendered":"Cotechino with Lentils"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 2, 2019<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cotechino is not a food I grew up eating.\u00a0 It entered my food canon through my husband\u2019s family, Northern Italians all!<\/p>\n

Over the years we\u2019ve melded together our different family traditions.\u00a0 Although there\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pasta Ascuitta<\/a> 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\u2019s house.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Mostly, now, we have a quiet Christmas Eve dinner with my in-laws at which we serve Pasta Ascuitta and call it quits!<\/p>\n

That means somewhere else over Christmastime we have to fit in Baccala since it is a favorite of my in-laws.\u00a0 This year we had it several days before Christmas.\u00a0 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).\u00a0 It was truly the best baccala I have ever had.<\/p>\n

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My family didn\u2019t have any specific traditions for what was served on New Year\u2019s Eve but New Year\u2019s Day always saw Pork, Sauerkraut and Sausage<\/a> with Dumplings<\/a>.\u00a0 That meal, repeated in one fashion or another in most homes in Johnstown, PA, pays homage to the original German founders of the town.<\/p>\n

Somewhere around New Year\u2019s Day my mother-in-law would make Cotechino with Brovada.\u00a0 Brovada is turnips that are fermented in grape pomace left over from crushing and pressing grapes for wine.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The turnips are peeled and shredded before cooking.\u00a0 Brovada ends up tasting remarkably similar to sauerkraut.<\/p>\n

Before Frank and I started spending New Year\u2019s in Palm Springs, we would host a New Year\u2019s Eve dinner at Villa Sentieri at which we served Cotechino as the appetizer course.\u00a0 Although Cotechino is typically served with Brovada in Friuli, it is served with lentils in most of the remainder of Northern Italy.\u00a0 I always opted for lentils for the New Year\u2019s Eve dinner, leaving my mother-in-law to make it a second time with Brovada.<\/p>\n

Many of our traditions got up-ended this year.\u00a0 For Christmas Eve dinner we had Cotechino with Sauerkraut!\u00a0 My mother-in-law did not make Brovada this year and said she preferred to have the Cotechino with Sauerkraut rather than Lentils.\u00a0 I used the sauerkraut portion of my recipe for Pork with Sauerkraut<\/a>.\u00a0 It was a great combination.\u00a0 I also made Dumplings<\/a> just because everything is better with dumplings.<\/p>\n

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That means we didn\u2019t have Pasta Ascuitta<\/a> on Christmas Eve for the first time in I-don\u2019t-know-how-many years!<\/p>\n

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The cotechino with sauerkraut and dumplings we had on Christmas Eve.<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even though we didn\u2019t host New Year\u2019s Eve dinner this year, I was assigned the task of making the first course for the dinner hosted by our friends John O\u2019Malley and Bob Reddington in Palm Springs.\u00a0 I jumped at the chance to make Cotechino with Lentils.\u00a0 The Cotechino came from Eataly in Los Angeles, and like the Baccala, was excellent.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019m 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<\/a>.\u00a0 Pasta Ascuitta will need to wait for another year!

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Cotechino with Lentils<\/h2>\n
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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.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>20 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>3 hours<\/span><\/span> hrs<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>3 hours<\/span><\/span> hrs<\/span> 20 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>12<\/span> people as an appetizer<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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