Looking for a nice recipe for New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day? The lentil-crusted cotechino with artichokes and pomegranate is perfect for you. This recipe combines the tradition of serving cotechino and lentils together with the new trend of using legume flour. I kneaded a crunchy shell with white flour and lentil flour, prepared a bed of finely sliced raw artichokes and pomegranate seeds, and finally cooked a small cotechino, the star of this dish. The result is a crunchy shell that encloses a tender cotechino, all refreshed by pure artichokes and shelled pomegranate.
The tradition of New Year’s Eve is preserved but – believe me – this dish is anything but traditional and will surprise friends and family. It can be served as an appetizer or as a middle course, depending on the chosen menu. Don’t miss it, it’s delicious.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: 3
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 524.03 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 42.22 (g) of which sugars 2.53 (g)
- Proteins 33.92 (g)
- Fat 24.74 (g) of which saturated 6.01 (g)of which unsaturated 9.95 (g)
- Fibers 6.25 (g)
- Sodium 1,295.97 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 143 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
What You Need for the Lentil-Crusted Cotechino
My measurements are for a very small cotechino because, as everyone knows by now, I hate leftovers and always try not to have any. Especially during the holidays.
- 3/4 cup Manitoba flour
- 1/3 cup lentil flour
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup water (only as needed for kneading)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 oz pre-cooked Modena cotechino (small)
- 2 artichokes (raw and cleaned, very thinly sliced)
- 3/4 oz pomegranate (seeds)
- 3 sprigs thyme (fresh, only leaves)
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Tools
A food processor is very convenient for kneading. It’s quick and the dough turns out well.
- Food Processor
Let’s See How to Make Lentil-Crusted Cotechino with Artichokes and Pomegranate
The dough we will use is the Genoese crazy dough, for which you can find the detailed recipe and uses HERE. The only difference is that in this version I also used some lentil flour, as indicated in the ingredients.
After preparing the crazy dough, roll it out on a sheet of baking paper and form a rectangle of the right size, smoothing the edges (save the scraps, they will be useful for the final decoration). Roll out the dough thinly, but not too much, to avoid it breaking during baking. Then place the thinly sliced artichokes and pomegranate seeds, leaving the edges of the rectangle free to seal properly.
If our cotechino is pre-cooked, just heat it in hot water inside its packaging for about 15 minutes. This solution is very practical, but I would like to specify that many butchers sell fresh cotechino. It would certainly be better to buy it this way, without preservatives or additives. Particularly my favorite butcher in Genoa, Macelli44, produces fantastic cotechino, enriched with spices and free from any harmful preservatives: the meat is organic. In this case, the cooking of the cotechino will be slow and last at least two hours. However, it’s worth it. We can then enclose both the pre-cooked and artisanal cotechino in crust.
After freeing the now warm cotechino from the casing, place it on the bed of artichokes and pomegranate and close the dough like a package. Then (optional) cut two strips of leftover dough and enrich them with some fresh thyme leaves using the rolling pin; then form a dough bow that we will close with a piece of almond. The lentil-crusted cotechino cooks for 20 minutes at 375°F, but I recommend watching it.
Now we just need to slice it, after a few minutes, and serve it on the table.
The Queen’s Advice
I recommend serving the cotechino with a small salad of lamb’s lettuce and pomegranate seeds. You can serve a slice as an appetizer (as I do) or keep it as a main dish. In this case, however, do not overdo the appetizers and the first course: small portions, please.
If you’re looking for some ideas to serve lentils and cotechino, or if you want to reuse leftovers, read:
▪ Lentil Gnocchi with Cotechino Ragù
▪ Lentil Gnocchi with Celery Ragù
▪ Spiced Lentil Soup – Recipe with Pomegranate
Those who are looking for quick ideas for New Year’s Eve should also read: New Year’s Eve Dinner – Many Last-Minute Ideas.
Do You Know Where to Find Me?
You can receive all the new recipes on the Telegram channel of my blog. It’s free and to subscribe you just need to open this link: in this way you will always be updated on recipes, secrets, tips, and news. You can receive all the recipes on your phone without the risk of missing any, and without needing to provide any phone number or email address; if you wish to leave the channel, you just need to delete it.
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Note: This recipe contains affiliate links.
Return to the HOME to learn more about me by reading Who I Am, discover Vegetarian Dishes, Ligurian Recipes, and all the good things that The Queen in the Kitchen prepares.
Follow me on Facebook, on Instagram. You’ll find you’ll never be short of dinner ideas again!
Note: This recipe contains affiliate links.
