Madrid 'cocido' (meat, potato and chickpea stew)

Ingredients

Ingredients for 4 people: 250 g of chickpeas, 300 g of beef black pudding, ¼ of chicken, 100 g of streaky bacon, 100 g of black pudding with onion, 100 g of spicy sausage, 50 g of cured ham end, 4 marrow bones around 5 cm, long 1 kg of cabbage, 4 medium potatoes, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 1 turnip, 1 clove of garlic, olive oil for browning, 100 g of stick noodles for the soup Salt. For the mix: 2 eggs, 75 g of breadcrumbs 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tsp of finely-chopped parsley, olive oil, salt.

Preparation

Soak the chickpeas overnight in warm water with a little salt. Next day, remove and drain them. Place the meat, bacon, washed bones and the ham in a wide-based earthenware dish, and cover with around 4 litres of water. Put the dish on the flame and when it comes to the boil, any scum will rise to the surface. Remove it with a spoon for skimming and add the chickpeas. When it reaches boiling point again, add the carrot, onion and the turnip. Cook on a low flame for three hours or more, until the chickpeas are tender. Twenty minutes before the end, add the peeled and halved potatoes.Add salt to taste. At the same time, cook the finely chopped cabbage in another pot for half an hour. Drain and gently fry it with the garlic. Cook the spicy sausage and the black pudding in a separate pan so that they do not stain the broth. Mix: Beat the eggs and mix them together with the breadcrumbs, very finely-chopped garlic, parsley and a little salt. With two spoons, form kind of squashed croquette shapes and fry them in plenty of very hot oil. It is not necessary to add flour or coat them in egg as the mix will hold without breaking. When the cocido is about to be served, add them to the broth and bring to the boil.

Presentation

Madrid cocido is said to be eaten in three stages. First, the soup is served with the noodles (which have to be cooked in the broth for 5 minutes). Then come the chickpeas in a serving dish with the vegetables: the sautéed cabbage, the carrot and the turnip in slices (around 2 cm).Add the onion to the broth to give it flavour, but then remove it. It is also accompanied by the mix and, in a gravy boat, peeled, chopped and fried tomato. The third stage consists of the pieces of meat, pork, bacon and the marrow bones. The marrow spread on toast is delicious.