Cassoeula: Kathleen asked for a recipe for Cassoeula a while back. It's a classic Milanese winter dish, a thick, hearty pork, sausage, and cabbage soup that is, according to Antonio Piccinardi, common throughout the areas once inhabited by the Celts. In other words, one can find similar things in France and Spain. He says there's considerable variation from cook to cook...
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 90 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 pounds (600 g) spare ribs, cut into shorter lengths by the butcher
- 10 ounces (250 g) Luganega sausage
- 4 ounces (100 g) fresh pork rinds
- A pig's trotter
- A pig's ear (available in an oriental market if nowhere else)
- 2 Salamin de Verz (tiny sausages made with the same filling used for Luganega)
- 2 1/4 pounds (1 k) Savoy cabbag
- 8 ounces (200 g) celery, sliced
- 8 ounces (200 g) carrots, sliced
- An onion, minced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
- Broth
- Salt and pepper
Preparation:
Continuing with the introduction, some believe Cassoeula should have tomato and others not, and some prefer to eat it fresh off the stove, while others prefer to wait a day and reheat it. Alessandro Pradelli suggests that you use black German-style bread if you don't have polenta. The ingredients above will feed six.
Wash the cabbage well, coarsely shred it, and heat it in a pot with the water trapped on the leaves to wilt it, taking care lest the leaves in the bottom of the pot stick and burn.
Flame the trotter, ear, and rinds to remove any hairs they may still have, and wipe them clean with a cloth. Split the trotter, using a cleaver if necessary, and cut the ear and rinds into strips.
Boil them in lightly salted water for an hour, by which point the fat will be rendered out of them. While they're cooking, mince the onion and sauté it in the oil and butter. When it has browned, add the ribs, then the Luganega, cut into rounds, and the salamin; brown them lightly, and then sprinkle with white wine and cook over a moderate flame until the liquid is evaporated. Remove the meat from the pot, and add the carrots and celery, together with the tomato sauce diluted in a little water. Season with salt and pepper, cover, and cook until the vegetables are done, stirring occasionally. Add the shredded cabbage, and lay the meat over it. Shake the pot just a bit to allow some of the cooking liquid to appear, cover, and simmer for an hour or more, using a spoon to skim off the fat that rises to the surface every now and again.
Serve it steaming hot, with polenta or dark bread.
Note: There are a great many variations; some use pancetta or lard as well, others goose meat, and others add thyme or bay leaves. Around Como they use pig's head rather than pig's trotter. And in Brianza they use duck.
Wash the cabbage well, coarsely shred it, and heat it in a pot with the water trapped on the leaves to wilt it, taking care lest the leaves in the bottom of the pot stick and burn.
Flame the trotter, ear, and rinds to remove any hairs they may still have, and wipe them clean with a cloth. Split the trotter, using a cleaver if necessary, and cut the ear and rinds into strips.
Boil them in lightly salted water for an hour, by which point the fat will be rendered out of them. While they're cooking, mince the onion and sauté it in the oil and butter. When it has browned, add the ribs, then the Luganega, cut into rounds, and the salamin; brown them lightly, and then sprinkle with white wine and cook over a moderate flame until the liquid is evaporated. Remove the meat from the pot, and add the carrots and celery, together with the tomato sauce diluted in a little water. Season with salt and pepper, cover, and cook until the vegetables are done, stirring occasionally. Add the shredded cabbage, and lay the meat over it. Shake the pot just a bit to allow some of the cooking liquid to appear, cover, and simmer for an hour or more, using a spoon to skim off the fat that rises to the surface every now and again.
Serve it steaming hot, with polenta or dark bread.
Note: There are a great many variations; some use pancetta or lard as well, others goose meat, and others add thyme or bay leaves. Around Como they use pig's head rather than pig's trotter. And in Brianza they use duck.
