Escudella i Carn d'Olla

Escudella i Carn d'Olla

Recipes with Butifarra

Catalonia's Christmas stew, a two-course meal from a single pot. The broth goes out first, with galets (large shell pasta) or rice. Then the meats: butifarra blanca, butifarra negra, a pilota (meat and pine nut dumpling), chicken, beef, pork, and root vegetables. The family eats together and the kitchen smells of bone broth for two days.

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

2 hr 30 min

Servings

6

Difficulty

Hard

Ingredients

  • For the pot: 1 free-range chicken, cut into pieces
  • 500g beef shin or short rib
  • 300g pork spare rib or pork belly
  • 1 veal bone (optional, for richness)
  • 2 butifarra blanca sausages
  • 2 butifarra negra sausages
  • 2 medium carrots, halved
  • 2 parsnips, halved
  • 2 leeks, trimmed
  • 1 celery stick
  • 1 medium turnip, quartered
  • 1 small Savoy cabbage, quartered
  • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and halved
  • Salt
  • For the pilota: 300g minced pork
  • 50g pine nuts
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 egg
  • 50g breadcrumbs
  • Salt, black pepper, and a grate of nutmeg
  • For the first course: 200g galets (large shell pasta) or short pasta
  • Grated aged sheep's cheese to serve

Steps

1

Place the chicken, beef, pork, and veal bone in a large pot with 3 litres of cold water. Bring slowly to a simmer over medium heat. As the water heats, skim off the grey foam that rises. This takes 15 to 20 minutes. Do not let it boil hard at this stage.

2

Add the carrots, parsnips, leeks, celery, and turnip. Season with salt. Simmer very gently, partially covered, for 1 hour.

3

While the pot simmers, make the pilota: combine the minced pork, pine nuts, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Mix well with your hands until cohesive. Form into one large ball or two smaller ones.

4

After 1 hour of simmering, add the cabbage, potatoes, the pilota, and both types of butifarra sausage to the pot. Continue simmering for 45 more minutes. The sausages will cook through in the broth; the pilota will firm and expand.

5

Remove all the meats, sausages, pilota, and vegetables to a large serving platter. Cover with foil to keep warm.

6

Taste the broth and adjust salt. Bring it to a gentle boil and cook the pasta directly in the broth until al dente. Serve the broth with pasta as the first course, with grated cheese on the side.

7

Serve the meats and vegetables as the second course on the shared platter. Slice the sausages and pilota at the table. Offer allioli or picada (ground almonds, garlic, and parsley in olive oil) alongside.

Tips

Start the pot with cold water and a slow heat. This draws out more flavour and gelatin from the bones than a hot start. The broth should be clear, not cloudy. Skimming in the first 20 minutes determines the clarity of the final soup. Escudella tastes better reheated the next day; make it on Christmas Eve if possible.