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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Sopa de Cocido Madrileño
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Madrid's first vuelco is the cocido broth served with fine fideos: clear, deep, and clean enough to begin the meal before the chickpeas and meats arrive.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Make Ahead
20 min
Active Time
3 hr cook•3 hr 20 min total
Yield6 servings
Sopa de Cocido Madrileño is Madrid's first vuelco, the first serving from the cocido pot: strained broth with fine fideos, not a separate little noodle soup pretending to be something grander. The chickpeas, beef, hen, jamón bone, tocino, and vegetables give the broth its weight. The bowl itself stays plain. Clear broth, fine noodles, enough depth to tell you the pot worked.
The method that decides it is not the noodle. It is the broth. Bring the meats up slowly, skim hard at the beginning, then keep the pot at a steady murmur. A violent boil clouds the broth and throws fat through it; patience gives you a clean, amber soup. After that, strain it, skim the fat, and cook the fideos only at the end. Leave them sitting in the pot and they swell like they've been left unsupervised, because they have.
If you are far from Madrid, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use a good dried chickpea, a beef shin or shank, chicken leg, a piece of cured ham or prosciutto end if you cannot find a jamón bone, and Spanish chorizo only if it tastes of pimentón, not smokehouse sugar. A small smoked ham hock will do at a pinch, but it makes the broth saltier and smokier, so soak it first and salt late. Siempre sale, si lo sigues: clean broth first, fideos last.
Cocido madrileño is Madrid's version of the old Castilian olla, a household pot built from chickpeas, vegetables, fresh meats, and cured pork from the larder. In Madrid it is classically served in tres vuelcos, three servings: first the strained broth with fideos, then the chickpeas and vegetables, then the meats. The soup is the public face of the pot, clear and orderly, while all the work that made it stays behind in the olla.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried chickpeas
Quantity
350g
soaked overnight
beef shin or shank
Quantity
500g
in one piece
chicken leg quarters or hen
Quantity
450g
bone-in
jamón bone or cured ham end
Quantity
1 bone or 120g
salted pork belly or tocino
Quantity
150g
rinsed
beef marrow bone
Quantity
about 200g
leek
Quantity
1
trimmed and rinsed
carrots
Quantity
2
peeled
onion
Quantity
1 small
peeled
potatoes
Quantity
2 medium
peeled and left whole
Spanish chorizo (optional)
Quantity
120g
cooked separately or added near the end
water
Quantity
3.5 litres, plus more hot water if needed
fine sea salt
Quantity
8g, plus more to taste
fine fideos no. 0 or no. 1
Quantity
120g
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried chickpeassoaked overnight | 350g |
| beef shin or shankin one piece | 500g |
| chicken leg quarters or henbone-in | 450g |
| jamón bone or cured ham end | 1 bone or 120g |
| salted pork belly or tocinorinsed | 150g |
| beef marrow bone | about 200g |
| leektrimmed and rinsed | 1 |
| carrotspeeled | 2 |
| onionpeeled | 1 small |
| potatoespeeled and left whole | 2 medium |
| Spanish chorizo (optional)cooked separately or added near the end | 120g |
| water | 3.5 litres, plus more hot water if needed |
| fine sea salt | 8g, plus more to taste |
| fine fideos no. 0 or no. 1 | 120g |
Equipment Needed
- •6 to 8 litre heavy pot or olla
- •Skimming spoon
- •Fine sieve
- •Ladle
- •Chickpea net, optional
Instructions
- 1
Soak the chickpeas
The night before, put the chickpeas in a large bowl and cover them with plenty of cold water. They need room to swell. If your jamón bone, tocino, or ham substitute is very salty, soak it separately for 1 hour, then rinse it. Pésalo, no lo adivines: dry chickpeas need the soak, or the pot will take all afternoon and still sulk.
Chickpeas are the exception among many legumes: they go into hot broth, not cold water, after soaking. That helps them cook evenly instead of hardening at the skin. - 2
Start the broth
Put the beef, chicken, jamón bone or ham end, tocino, marrow bone, leek, carrots, onion, and 3.5 litres water in a tall heavy pot. Bring it up slowly over medium heat. As grey foam rises, skim it off carefully for 10 to 15 minutes. This is the work that gives you a clean sopa later, so don't walk away yet.
- 3
Add chickpeas
When the broth is clean and just boiling, drain the soaked chickpeas and add them to the pot. Add the 8g salt, then lower the heat until the surface moves gently, never rolls hard. Cover partly and simmer for about 2 hours, adding hot water if the liquid drops below the solids. Cold water shocks the simmer; hot water keeps the pot steady.
- 4
Finish the pot
Add the whole peeled potatoes for the last 35 to 40 minutes, until the chickpeas are tender and creamy and the meats give easily when prodded. If using chorizo, cook it in a small separate pan of water for 20 minutes, or add it to the cocido only for the final 20 minutes if you want its pimentón in the broth. Too much chorizo fat turns the first vuelco heavy, and this soup wants depth, not grease.
- 5
Strain and skim
Lift out the meats, bones, chickpeas, and vegetables. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pot and let it stand 10 minutes. Skim the fat from the surface with a spoon. For the cleanest soup, chill the broth until the fat sets in a cap, then lift it off. Taste only after skimming, because cured pork can be sly with salt.
- 6
Cook the fideos
Measure 1.8 litres of strained broth for 6 bowls and bring it to a lively boil. Add the 120g fine fideos and cook until just tender, usually 3 to 5 minutes depending on the size. Stir once or twice so they don't clump. Serve at once, while the broth is clear and the noodles still have a little bite.
- 7
Serve first vuelco
Ladle the sopa into warm bowls with plenty of broth and a modest tangle of fideos in each one. The chickpeas, vegetables, and meats come after, as the second and third vuelcos. If you only came for the soup, keep those solids for tomorrow's ropa vieja or a simple plate with olive oil and salt. Nothing from a good cocido pot should be wasted.
Chef Tips
- •Fine fideos no. 0 or no. 1 are right here. If you cannot find them, break angel-hair pasta into short lengths. It works, but it softens faster, so watch the pot and serve the soup the moment the pasta is tender.
- •For a day-after sopa, strain 1.8 litres leftover cocido broth, remove the fat cap, bring it to a boil, and add 120g fideos. Ten minutes and you have dinner. Store broth and noodles separately or the fideos drink everything.
- •If there is no jamón bone where you are, use a cured ham end, a prosciutto end, or a small smoked ham hock. The hock is saltier and smokier, so soak it first and add final salt only after the broth is strained.
- •Chorizo belongs to a Madrid cocido, but it does not have to bully the soup. Cook it separately if yours is very fatty, then serve it later with the meats. The sopa should taste of the whole pot, not only of sausage.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the chickpeas 10 to 12 hours before cooking. If using very salty cured pork, soak that separately for 1 hour and rinse it well.
- •The broth is best made a day ahead, chilled, and skimmed once the fat has set on top. Cook the fideos only when you are ready to serve.
- •Cooked chickpeas, vegetables, and meats keep for 3 days covered in the refrigerator. Keep them separate from the broth if you want the sopa clean.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 450g)
Calories
265 calories
Total Fat
13 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
45 mg
Sodium
1250 mg
Total Carbohydrates
21 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
16 g
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