Here we are in the autumn season, and finally now that we can leave the heat, cold dishes, and salads behind, it’s time to enjoy a nice hearty and nutritious dish. Since we like to indulge ourselves every now and then, why not do it right away and enjoy a good fresh cotechino that is nice and fragrant? Yes, but how to cook fresh cotechino? Oh yes, because how many times have we seen the cotechino at the butcher’s meat counter but never bought it. Often we don’t know how to cook it, and for fear of making a bad impression, we take the easy option and buy the precooked canned one, which is not as good as a local cotechino. Today, everyone can finally learn how to cook it perfectly and impeccably by following these simple steps.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Economical
- Rest time: 10 Minutes
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
- Energy 449.00 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 0.00 (g) of which sugars 0.00 (g)
- Proteins 17.20 (g)
- Fat 42.30 (g) of which saturated 0.00 (g)of which unsaturated 0.00 (g)
- Fibers 0.00 (g)
- Sodium 1,138.01 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 4 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 1 cotechino (Fresh)
- 8.45 cups water
Tools
- 1 Pot
- 1 Slotted Spoon
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
Steps
How to cook fresh cotechino might seem like a daunting task, but in reality, it’s the simplest thing in the world, just like boiling an egg, for example. But first, we must pierce the cotechino with a toothpick to allow the internal fat to escape and make the meat leaner.
Then, after making small holes with a toothpick all over the surface, we put it in a large enough pot to hold the entire cotechino and at least 8.45 cups of cold water, which will cover it abundantly.
Then we put the pot on the heat and cook for at least 2 hours for a cotechino weighing 0.88/1.32 lbs, and when the white foam forms, we remove it with a strainer or slotted spoon.
Now, after two hours of cooking the cotechino, to see if it’s perfectly cooked, we take it out of the cooking water for a moment, and after placing it on a surface, we touch it with our fingertips. If it feels soft and yielding, it’s ready. If it’s still a little hard and rubbery, we cook it for another 20/30 minutes.
Finally, we let it rest at room temperature for about ten minutes before slicing it into slices about an inch thick. If you prefer, you can already remove the skin from each slice to serve the cotechino cleaned and ready to enjoy.
Now that you know how to cook fresh cotechino, you just have to enjoy it still hot, as you prefer, with lentils, with mashed potatoes as I did, or simply with some common bread.
Bon appétit and DadCook!.
