Chef Isabel
Cocido Aragonés con Cardo
Cocido Aragonés is Aragón's chickpea stew, marked by cardo from the Ebro garden and a bread-and-meat pelota. Keep the pot gentle and the garbanzos stay whole.
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Cocido Lebaniego
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Cocido Lebaniego is Liébana's mountain pot from Cantabria: small chickpeas, pork from the larder, cabbage, potato, and a fried bread-and-egg relleno. Hold it at a tremble.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Comfort Food
One Pot
Special Occasion
35 min
Active Time
3 hr cook•3 hr 35 min total
Yield6 servings
Cocido Lebaniego is Liébana's cocido, from the Cantabrian mountains around Potes, and its small chickpeas are what make it itself. This is not cocido montañés, its neighbour with white beans and berza. Here you have garbanzos de Potes if you can get them, pork from the cured larder, cabbage, potato, and the fried bread-and-egg relleno that drinks the broth at the end.
The rule that decides it is simple: chickpeas go into hot broth, then stay at the barest tremble. Beans can start cold; garbanzos are more stubborn. Boil them hard and the skins split before the middle turns creamy. Chill them with cold top-up water and they sulk, yes, chickpeas have that much pride. Keep a kettle ready and add only hot water if the pot drops.
If you're far from Liébana, use a small dried chickpea like Pedrosillano, or the freshest dried chickpeas you can buy from a shop that sells through them. The flavour will be a little less nutty than garbanzo de Potes, but the dish still stands if the chickpeas are soaked, the salt is held back, and the pot is left alone. No hace falta haber pisado España.
The relleno is not decoration. Bread, egg, garlic, parsley, and a little chorizo are fried first so they hold together, then they soften in the cocido like a second spoonful of the broth. In my Margin for this one I wrote only: hot water, low fire, salt at the end. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Cocido lebaniego belongs to Liébana, the Cantabrian comarca around Potes, where a sheltered mountain valley made small chickpeas part of the local larder. Its nearest neighbour, cocido montañés, is also Cantabrian but not the same pot: montañés is built on white beans and berza, while lebaniego is marked by garbanzos, potatoes, pork from the matanza, and the fried bread-and-egg relleno. The broth is often served first as sopa, then the chickpeas, greens, meats, and relleno follow as the strong second vuelco.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small dried chickpeas, preferably garbanzo de Liébana or garbanzo de Potes
Quantity
500g
soaked overnight
fine sea salt
Quantity
15g, plus more to taste
cured pork shoulder or lacón
Quantity
250g
soaked if salty
salted pork rib
Quantity
250g
soaked if salty
tocino or unsmoked slab bacon
Quantity
150g
in one piece
ham bone or pork spine bone
Quantity
1
rinsed
beef shin
Quantity
250g
in one piece
Spanish cooking chorizos
Quantity
2, about 220g total
40g finely chopped for the relleno, the rest left whole
firm Spanish morcilla for stewing
Quantity
1, about 150g
berza, Savoy cabbage, or green cabbage
Quantity
500g
thick ribs removed, leaves chopped
potatoes
Quantity
500g
peeled and cut into large chunks
water for the pot
Quantity
3 litres, plus more hot water as needed
day-old rustic bread
Quantity
120g
crumbed
large eggs
Quantity
2
garlic
Quantity
1 clove
finely minced
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
hot cocido broth for the relleno
Quantity
2 to 4 tablespoons
olive oil for frying the relleno
Quantity
60ml
fine fideo noodles or angel-hair pasta (optional)
Quantity
80g
for the soup course
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small dried chickpeas, preferably garbanzo de Liébana or garbanzo de Potessoaked overnight | 500g |
| fine sea salt | 15g, plus more to taste |
| cured pork shoulder or lacónsoaked if salty | 250g |
| salted pork ribsoaked if salty | 250g |
| tocino or unsmoked slab baconin one piece | 150g |
| ham bone or pork spine bonerinsed | 1 |
| beef shinin one piece | 250g |
| Spanish cooking chorizos40g finely chopped for the relleno, the rest left whole | 2, about 220g total |
| firm Spanish morcilla for stewing | 1, about 150g |
| berza, Savoy cabbage, or green cabbagethick ribs removed, leaves chopped | 500g |
| potatoespeeled and cut into large chunks | 500g |
| water for the pot | 3 litres, plus more hot water as needed |
| day-old rustic breadcrumbed | 120g |
| large eggs | 2 |
| garlicfinely minced | 1 clove |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 2 tablespoons |
| hot cocido broth for the relleno | 2 to 4 tablespoons |
| olive oil for frying the relleno | 60ml |
| fine fideo noodles or angel-hair pasta (optional)for the soup course | 80g |
Equipment Needed
- •6 to 7 litre heavy olla or Dutch oven
- •Skimming spoon
- •Small frying pan
- •Slotted spoon
- •Optional chickpea net or muslin bag
Instructions
- 1
Soak the chickpeas
The night before, put the chickpeas in a large bowl with plenty of warm water and the 15g salt. Soak them 12 hours. If the cured pork shoulder or ribs taste very salty, soak them separately in cold water for 4 to 8 hours, changing the water once. Drain the chickpeas and rinse the meats before cooking.
Old chickpeas stay chalky no matter how patient you are. Buy dried chickpeas from a shop with good turnover. Pésalo, no lo adivines. - 2
Build the broth
Put the cured pork shoulder, pork rib, tocino, ham bone, and beef shin in a 6 to 7 litre heavy pot with 3 litres cold water. Bring it slowly to a boil and skim until the surface looks clean. Do not salt now; the cured pork will speak first. Once the broth is boiling gently and clean, you are ready for the chickpeas.
- 3
Cook the garbanzos
Add the drained chickpeas to the hot broth, then add the whole pieces of chorizo. Lower the heat until the pot barely trembles and cook, uncovered or partly covered, for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes, until the chickpeas are almost creamy but still hold their shape. Top up only with hot water if the level drops below the chickpeas. Cold water tightens them, and that is not a shortcut worth taking.
A chickpea net or muslin bag makes lifting them easier, but it is not required. What matters is the low tremble. - 4
Fry the relleno
While the chickpeas cook, make the relleno. Mix the bread crumbs, eggs, minced garlic, parsley, the 40g chopped chorizo, and a small pinch of salt. Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of hot broth, just enough to make a soft spoonable paste. Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and fry oval spoonfuls until browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. They must set in the pan first, or they fall apart in the pot.
- 5
Add greens and potato
When the chickpeas are nearly tender, nestle the potatoes and cabbage into the pot. Keep the same low tremble and cook 25 to 30 minutes, until the potato breaks gently at the edge of a spoon. Add the morcilla and the fried rellenos for the last 12 minutes, turning the rellenos once with care. If the chickpeas still have a chalky centre, cook longer before you salt.
- 6
Rest and serve
Lift the meats to a board and let the pot rest 10 minutes. Slice the chorizo, morcilla, tocino, pork, and beef into generous pieces. Taste the broth and salt only now. If serving the sopa first, ladle about 1 litre broth into a small pan, cook the fideos in it for 5 minutes, and serve that before the chickpeas. Then bring the garbanzos, cabbage, potato, meats, and relleno to the table, making sure every bowl gets a piece of relleno.
Chef Tips
- •The right chickpea matters. Garbanzo de Liébana or garbanzo de Potes is small, fine-skinned, and nutty. Far from Cantabria, use Pedrosillano or another small dried chickpea. Large supermarket chickpeas work, but they cook a little slower and the skin is more noticeable.
- •Canned chickpeas will not give the broth the same body. If you must use them, cook the meats first until the broth is strong, then add drained canned chickpeas for the final 20 minutes with the cabbage and potato. It will be lighter. That is the truth of it.
- •Use Spanish cooking chorizo, not fresh Mexican chorizo. They are different sausages and the pot will taste wrong. For the morcilla, choose a firm one made for stewing; a soft black pudding is a last resort and should go in only at the very end.
- •Berza is the green this pot wants. Savoy cabbage, green cabbage, or collards with the thick stems removed are the honest substitutes. Kale tastes sharper and cooks faster, so add it in the last 15 minutes if that is what you have.
- •This is cocina de cuchara, spoon food, and it is better after a rest. Leftovers keep 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat gently with a splash of water and keep the morcilla and relleno near the top so they do not break.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the chickpeas 12 hours ahead in warm salted water so they cook evenly and turn creamy before the skins split.
- •Soak very salty cured pork shoulder or ribs 4 to 8 hours ahead in cold water, changing the water once.
- •The cocido can be cooked a day ahead through the chickpeas and meats. Add the cabbage, potatoes, morcilla, and rellenos when reheating so they keep their shape.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 830g)
Calories
1220 calories
Total Fat
64 g
Saturated Fat
20 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
40 g
Cholesterol
205 mg
Sodium
3350 mg
Total Carbohydrates
94 g
Dietary Fiber
20 g
Sugars
14 g
Protein
67 g
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