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How to cook cotechino with lentils


Cotechino with lentils

Cotechino with lentils is an unmissable dish on Italian tables during the Christmas holidays. Here's the recipe!

Here is a traditional Italian dish that cannot be missed during the holidays: cotechino and lentils! This indissoluble union has now become famous throughout the peninsula and it is one of the most prepared recipes, especially for New Year 's Eve dinner , since as tradition dictates, eating it brings goodness!

Cotechino is a typical Modena sausage, which was prepared by farmers and enjoyed together with vegetables, soups and legumes. The recipe spread until it was included in Artusi 's famous book, which is why it is still famous throughout Italy today. According to tradition, the perfect pairing is lentils, which are cooked and flavored in a pan. So, are you ready to prepare this dish? So let's get started !

Cotechino with lentils

Ingredients

For cotechino and lentils

  • Cotechino (fresh or pre-cooked) – 1
  • Dried lentils – 250 g
  • Celery – 1 stalk
  • Carrot – 1
  • Onion – 1/2
  • Laurel – 1 leaf
  • Vegetable broth (or water) – to taste
  • Salt – to taste

Preparation

How to prepare the cotechino recipe with lentils

1

The first step is to soak the lentils for a couple of hours so that cooking is faster.

2

Once this is done you can proceed with cooking the cotechino . Usually on the market you can find pre-cooked cotechino, ready in less than half an hour and packaged in convenient sealed bags. In this case you need to boil them in water for the indicated time (however, check the instructions on the package), usually around 20 minutes . Just below you will find the instructions for cooking fresh cotechino (also in a pressure cooker).

3

In the meantime, prepare finely chopped celery , carrot and onion , brown it in a pan with a drizzle of oil. Add the well-drained lentils, the bay leaf and enough stock (including stock cubes) to cover them by at least an inch. Leave to cook for 30 minutes, adding salt only at the end.

4

Once the cotechino is ready, remove it from the bag, discard the liquid that has formed and serve it cut into slices together with the lentils.

Here is a video with all the steps to cook the cotechino (fresh in this case) and the lentils.

As an alternative (or together) with lentils, you can also bring cotechino to the table with classic mashed potatoes .

How to cook fresh cotechino

Cooked cotechino
Cooked cotechino

Pre-cooked cotechino is certainly very practical but we advise you, at least once, to try cooking fresh cotechino by purchasing it directly from your butcher.

A fresh cotechino can take up to two hours to cook. In this case, wrap it with foil (piercing it with a toothpick or the tines of a fork so that it does not explode during cooking) or with a clean cloth washed without fabric softener.

Place it in a pan covered with plenty of water and also add a celery stalk and a carrot to give it even more flavour. Cook for 2 hours (or ask whoever sold it to you) starting from the boil. Test with a toothpick to evaluate the softness of the sausage and when it is ready, drain it and let it cool.

Cotechino in a pressure cooker

A good idea, if you have little time, is to use a pressure cooker . To do this, place the steamer basket inside and pour the water on the bottom so that it does not touch the meat.

Then place the cotechino and bring the pan to pressure. Allow 30-40 minutes of cooking from the whistle. Then vent everything, let it rest for 5-10 minutes and serve cut into slices with a side dish of lentils.

Conservation

We recommend consuming both dishes within 2-3 days of cooking at most. We recommend placing the sliced ​​cotechino together with the remaining lentils and then heating them together in a pan: you'll taste the flavour!

Why do you eat cotechino with lentils?

This famous combination is an evergreen of our tables. The custom of consuming lentils before the end of the year dates back to the Romans . In fact, they saw similarities between the shape of the legume and that of the coins and thought that each coin corresponded to an extra penny.

The pig, on the other hand, was considered a symbol of abundance and well-being by the farmers who used to slaughter it at the end of the year. Some parts were preserved, others were eaten fresh. Among these were cotechino and zampone . The difference between the two lies in the fact that the casing of the first is the intestine while that of the second is precisely the rind of the pig's leg.

Read also
Christmas second courses: 10 fantastic recipes

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