Cotechino in crust is an elegant way to serve a classic festive main dish. This easy and elegant recipe is quick to prepare and allows you to serve a dish that is not only tasty but also beautiful.
If you like cotechino, don’t forget to read the recipe
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 5 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients for 4 people
1
- 1.3 lbs pre-cooked cotechino
Tools
- 1 Pot 5 qt
- 1 Knife
Procedure
There are various types of cotechino available, from artisanal ones that take hours to cook to pre-cooked ones that need only to be heated. Choose a good one because it will give flavor to the final dish.
For a good cotechino in crust, you need to follow the cooking instructions on your cotechino. Once cooked, remove the skin and let it rest until it is almost completely cool.
While the cotechino rests, it’s time to make the “crust” with puff pastry. If you don’t have puff pastry, no problem, you can follow the quick recipe to make easy puff pastry at home.
If you use ready-made puff pastry, one roll will be enough; cut it in half lengthwise and start cutting thin strips no more than 0.2 inches thick.
Be careful to cut uniform strips, otherwise the final result will not be precise.
Now that you have two halves of puff pastry, cut one half into strips lengthwise and the other half widthwise.
To create the classic lattice, simply join the two parts of the puff pastry to form a true lattice.
Start in the middle of the long side by inserting the first strip on the short side, cover in the center with the puff pastry strip, alternating one raised strip and one lowered so that the short strip is knotted in this mesh
Repeat the operation for all the strips until you obtain a homogeneous and close-knit mesh. Here’s how the sheet of puff pastry will look when finished.
This was the longest part of the work, now just place the cotechino in the knotted puff pastry, seal the underside and fold the edges.
Brush the puff pastry cover with a newly beaten egg evenly on all sides.
Tip: bring the puff pastry as close as possible but overlap it minimally, otherwise you will make the crust thickness too high in that spot. Leave the closure underneath so the weight of the cotechino won’t open it.
Bake at 356°F for 15-20 minutes (refer to the instructions on the package).
After about 20 minutes, your cotechino in crust is cooked. Just remove it from the oven and serve it with lentils or other vegetables.
Your cotechino in crust is ready!
