Puchero Valenciano con Pelota

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy pot, 8 to 10 litres
• •Kitchen string
• •Skimming spoon
• •Fine sieve
• •Large serving platter

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak and rinse

   Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of cold water. If your ham bone or salted pork bone is very salty, soak it separately for one hour, then rinse it well. Drain the chickpeas before cooking. Pésalo, no lo adivines: dried chickpeas swell unevenly if you guess by handfuls.

   Use dried chickpeas if you can. Canned chickpeas will feed you, yes, but they will not give the broth the same body or steady nutty taste.
2. 2

   Make the pelota

   Soak the bread crumbs in the milk for 5 minutes. In a bowl, mix the pork, beef, chopped panceta, soaked crumbs, egg, pine nuts, garlic, parsley, 8g salt, cinnamon, and black pepper. Mix with your hands just until it holds together. Do not knead it like bread or the pelota turns tight. Divide into 2 fat logs.

3. 3

   Wrap in cabbage

   Pull 6 large outer leaves from the cabbage and blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes, just until flexible. Cool them, pat them dry, and wrap the 2 meat logs in overlapping leaves. Tie each parcel with kitchen string. The cabbage is not decoration; it keeps the pelota whole and gives the broth its green, winter taste.

4. 4

   Start the broth

   Put the beef, chicken or hen, pork belly, and ham bone in a large heavy pot with 3 litres cold water. Bring it up slowly over medium heat. As the grey foam rises, skim it away until the surface looks clean and the broth smells meaty, not raw. This slow start is why the soup comes out clear instead of muddy.

5. 5

   Add the chickpeas

   When the broth is hot and well skimmed, add the drained chickpeas. Chickpeas want to enter hot broth, not cold, or they can stay stubborn in the middle. Lower the heat and hold the pot at a quiet simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes, skimming now and then. Add a little hot water if the liquid drops below the ingredients.

6. 6

   Add roots and greens

   Add the carrots, turnips, parsnip, leek, celery, and cardoon if using. Simmer 30 minutes. Then add the potatoes, sweet potato, cabbage wedges, the wrapped pelotas, and the blanquets if you have them. Keep the pot gentle for another 45 to 60 minutes, until the chickpeas are tender, the potato gives easily, and the pelota feels firm through the cabbage leaf.

7. 7

   Season and rest

   Taste the broth before adding salt, because the ham bone and pork may have done half the work already. Lift out the meats, vegetables, chickpeas, blanquets, and pelotas to a warm platter. Let the broth settle for 10 minutes, then strain it. Skim some fat if you like a lighter soup, but leave enough gloss for flavor.

8. 8

   Cook the fideos

   Measure about 1.5 litres of strained broth into a clean pot and bring it to a lively boil. Add the fine fideos and cook until tender, usually 4 to 6 minutes, depending on their thickness. Taste again for salt. The soup should be golden, clear, and full enough to stand as the first course.

9. 9

   Serve in courses

   Serve the fideo soup first. Then cut the string from the pelotas and slice them thickly. Arrange the chickpeas, vegetables, meats, blanquets, and sliced pelota on a large platter, spooning over a little broth so nothing dries out. No chorizo here. That belongs to other pots, and this one already knows where it comes from.

Chef Tips

• •If you cannot find blanquet, use a mild fresh pork sausage, not smoked chorizo. The flavor will be less Valencian, especially without that pale sausage sweetness and spice, but it will not drag the pot into another region.
• •Napicol and cardoon are worth buying when the market has them. If you cannot get them, use turnip, parsnip, celery, and extra cabbage. The broth will be a little less earthy, but still honest.
• •Tie the pelota firmly, but do not strangle it. It needs room to swell a little as the bread and egg set. If a little meat escapes, nadie nace sabiendo; strain the broth and carry on.
• •Canned chickpeas are a real shortcut if they get dinner made. Use four 400g cans, rinsed, and add them only for the last 30 minutes. The broth will be lighter, so do not skip the bones.
• •This is better made ahead. Chill the broth separately from the meats and vegetables, then lift off any hardened fat you do not want. Reheat gently and cook the fideos only just before serving.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the chickpeas 12 hours ahead in plenty of cold water.
• •Make and wrap the pelotas up to 1 day ahead; keep them covered in the refrigerator.
• •Cook the whole puchero 1 day ahead if useful. Store the strained broth separately from the meats, chickpeas, vegetables, and pelota, then reheat gently.
• •Cook the fideos only at serving time, or they will swell and drink the broth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 650g)