Cotechino using pigs stomach instead of sausage casing.

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moikel

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Jul 26, 2011
3,198
218
Sydney &Greenwell Point Australia
Its cotechino time here.
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Its a big sausage originally from Northern Italy.Minced pork,skin & bits flavoured then stuffed into an ox bung then normally gently simmered & served with lentils.Its not cured.Some Aussie recipes include tendon,cheek & basically leftovers from the salami making & they cure it.

Mine is a bit more up market & closer to the Bologna version.

I grabbed 2 pigs stomachs at the chinese butchers when I was buying up big on belly for bacon today. I also got plenty of pork mince not the lean stuff.

I have a recipe from a guy in Tassie that has a little farm,TV show,cookbook etc that I am going to tweak a bit. No surprises there.
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I will simmer it then smoke it for a bit,I think
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I just need to soak pigs stomach in some salty water for an hour or so,bust out the stitching needle work out my flavourings.I think I am going to put some grated pecorino cheese,parsley,onion,garlic,chopped bacon with the mince then flavour with,cbp,fennel seed,cloves,cayenne,nutmeg.

I have worked with pigs stomach before but I went chinese.

I will get some photos up after I get the bacon into the frig.
 

OK  just got to get the mix into the maw
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Fried onion,garlic,chopped pancetta& that chinese celery in some EVO.Deglazed it with a splash to vermouth .

In the grinder went black ,pepper,fennel seed a couple of cloves.After I ground it some nutmeg & paprika.

Grated cheese next. Then the big mix.A pinch of salt but under not over.

Then see if I can improve on the Dr Frankenstein stitching job from last time.
 
OK thats it stuffed & stitched.


I will put it in frig to get it to set a bit.

Simmer in water with a bit of smoked pork bone,bay leaf,onion,celery,parsley stalk in it.Then work the rest out from there.

I used my own smoked provolone cheese in the mix.

I didn't want to over stuff it ,couldn't think that a burst pigs maw would be a good thing.
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I think the gentlest of simmers then a hot oven to crisp it.

Still thinking about the lentil part of it. 
 
If this creation bursts it will be a Spinal Tap moment.
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Its just gone into poach now.

I was just getting pork for bacon & speck when I "saw the maw".

Our weather is crap,I am about to break the no wine on weekday ban,its just to cold.Aussies just don't get heating because its only 2 months of the year.

I like traditional cookery, cotechino & lentils is that to a T.
 
That was pretty tasty! Took a bit long to cook,& it had a minor blow out that plugged itself. Stock took on more flavour thanks to the leak,put the lentils in . Pulled my creation put it in the oven kept lentils going .
Drained them kept stock ,fried shallot ,bacon,garlic,slug of vermouth 2 x cups of stock.Gave a bubble put the lentils back in got them soft.
Carved cotechino & we were good to go.
Flavours were spot on,cheese was a good idea. I think I just made a version of haggis . The maw is a great vessel for the stuffing,I think the Chinese slice it & use it in soups not sure it has much flavour on its own.
 
Mick, this is terrific and impressive!

I think you and Clarissa could corner the entire globe when it comes to rustic cookery and WOW, this is just amazing to see!

It also sounds really savory, which I would love!

Fabulous job!!!

Cheers!!!! - Leah
 
That looks marvelous, Mick, and sounds like it turned out well. Nice use if the maw, also, and it does look a bit haggis like, though with a more edible stuffing.

Looks like your celebrating New Years a little early (or maybe, late). However, with the reversed winter in the Southern Hemisphere, the timing for the dish is perfect.

You mentioned the pig skin, which is traditional with cotechino, but did you actually incorporate it? I couldn't tell.

I've had cotechino in Modena several times and it's wonderful. Export to the U.S. was banned for many years until recently. Unfortunately, the exported product is required to be pre-cooked and is miserable compared to the freshly made product.

I've never made it solo, but played around doing it with a chef friend in his restaurants kitchen a a while ago, and once we got the proper ratio of pork, fatback, and skin down, it turned out very well. We didn't have proper sized bungs, much less a maw, so we simply formed 10" logs about 3"-4" in diameter, wrapped in commercial cling film followed by heavy duty foil. We let the packages rest in the refrigerator a couple days, then simmered for around 3 hours. We cut the logs into 1/2" discs and served them with lentils, as you did, and polenta with a bonus dusting of grated truffle. Great rustic and traditional food.

One thing I like to do is sear the discs in a hot skillet about 1 minute per side to give them a little crust. Also, if you haven't found it out yet, proper mincing or grinding the the fresh skin is nearly impossible, especially with non-commercial equipment. Best to cut the skin into strips and boil for 30 minutes beforehand.

For your next adventure, you should try zampone, another specialty of Modena. Pretty much the same mix stuffed into the boned skin of the pigs front trotters.

Great stuff. Congratulations!
 
Couldn't use pig skin because I don't have a mincer. I saw recipes from Southern Italy that had horse meat in them
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Maw kept it really moist but its a long cook . My butcher friend used to make zampone but the women in my life won't eat it.

I think I can slice it cold & refry it easy enough.My version a bit low fat compared to some.
 
Very nice and similar to what we call Hog Maw or Saumagen here.


~Martin
 Yes I did get close ,completely blind to Saumagen by name,but  that didn't stop me
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. I have never seen a pig maw anywhere here except chinese butchers makes you wonder where the rest go,exported I suppose.

I rushed this a bit,to much heat on the boil & didnt see  the weak spot but the hole sort of plugged itself. Leftovers tonight. 
 
That's awesome Mick. I love reading all the steps you take and the things you add along the way. It helps me improved my techniques and be more adventurous with my creations. Take care, and stay warm!
 
I love seeing different projects and, as usual, yours is very innovative and looks great. Thanks for posting.

Disco
 
Real nice and sounds great...JJ
 
That's awesome Mick. I love reading all the steps you take and the things you add along the way. It helps me improved my techniques and be more adventurous with my creations. Take care, and stay warm!
Thanks very much for your kind words.Aussies are wimps about cold weather. We are in coats & scarves & Scandanavian backpackers are still in shorts.
 
Hi Mick!

I haven't been around the forum much at all for a while due to schedule constraints, but I'm planning to make cotechino for the first time and wanted to see if there were any posts on it.  Very excited to find yours!   Your version looks and sounds delicious!  Is the pink color due to the paprika or did you throw Cure #1 in there?  I've seen recipes that call for it, and others that don't.  I'm not quite sure why it would need it, maybe you could shed some light on this.

I was planning to use a fresh pork leg section including the skin, and I have a beef bung in my refrigerator waiting for this. 

Sorry to not have seen this when you first posted it, but maybe giving it a little bump now will give others another chance to see it too.

Thanks for a great post, as always!!  Hope you are doing well!

Clarissa
 
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