Cocido

By saleo

A take on a portuguese dish to make in one pot. It has beef, pork, veal, vegetables, and pasta. If you don't want to take the time to make meatballs, just use frozen ones, let them thaw and throw them in. I find they work just as good if you're in a real hurry.

Ingredients

• For Meatballs:
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 pound Spanish chorizo, halved lengthwise then sliced 1/2-inch thick
• 1 small savoy cabbage, shredded
• 2 leeks
• 1 large carrot, peeled and grated
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 fresh or dry bay leaf
• 1 (15-ounce) can chick peas, drained
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 3/4 to 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3/4 pound ground beef pork and veal mix
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs or 1 slice stale bread, crumbled
• 1 teaspoon smoked sweet paprika or paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• A few grates fresh nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, 2 handfuls, and divided
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 cups fideos or medium egg noodles
• For Garnish:
• 1 lemon, zested
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 firm plum tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped

Details

Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 35mins

Preparation

Step 1

Heat a Dutch oven or soup pot over medium to medium high heat with extra-virgin olive oil.

Add chorizo and render 2 to 3 minutes.

To chorizo, add cabbage and begin to cook it down.

While cabbage wilts, trim the leeks of top 3 to 4 inches and root ends then halve them lengthwise and thinly slice. Soak in large bowl of water to release grit. Repeat if leeks are especially sandy.

Wipe down work area. Dry the leeks on kitchen towel and add to cabbage with some grated carrot.

Season with salt and pepper and bay leaf and sweat the vegetables 3 to 4 minutes.

Add chick peas and chicken stock to the pot, cover to bring up to a boil.

Uncover pot and turn heat back a bit but keep at a low boil. Stir chicken into soup.

For Meatballs:

Add ground meat to a bowl and top with bread crumbs or crumbled bread.

Season the bread with paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Add a handful of parsley to the bowl and an egg.

Mix and form 1-inch meatballs, adding them to the soup as you work.

Wash up and simmer meats 5 minutes then stir in egg pasta and simmer 5 minutes more. Turn off soup.

For Garnish:

While the soup cooks, combine remaining parsley with lemon zest, and chopped garlic Place seeded and chopped tomatoes in a small bowl and combine with lemon-garlic-parsley mixture.

Serve Cocido in shallow bowls and top with spoonfuls of tomato topping to stir in.