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Large pot of cocido with chickpeas, a potato and two round, dark golden-brown pelotas poking out of the broth, on a wooden table

Cocido con pelotas

Cocido con pelotas recipe from the Vega Baja

Winter stew from the Vega Baja: meat in cold water, soaked chickpeas, one potato and one or two pelotas per person, and the broth with a squeeze of lemon.

Traditional recipe

Yield
4 servings
Total time
1560 min
Difficulty
Hard
Region
el Baix Segura · Torrevieja · Crevillent
Xepep

Cocido con pelotas

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Broth and meats

  • 320 g–400 gChickpeas
  • 1 kgMixed meats
  • 3 lCold water
  • 4 pcsNew potatoes
  • to tasteVegetables: celery, turnip, carrot
  • to tasteMorcilla (blood sausage)
  • to tasteEgg yolks
  • to tasteLemon

Meatballs

Ingredients

    Recipe PDF (Yield base: 4 servings)

    Steps

    1. 1
      Put the 320 g–400 g to soak twenty-four hours beforehand and change the water every few hours.
    2. 2
      Wash the 1 kg and the chickpeas you are going to use.
    3. 3
      Put the 1 kg in the pot in order of toughness: first the pork, then the bones, then the rest. Cover them with the 3 l, always cold: never put the meat into hot water.
    4. 4
      When it comes to the boil, skim the broth with a slotted spoon to remove the impurities from the meat.
    5. 5
      Add the chickpeas and skim again.
    6. 6
      When the meat is almost cooked, add the to taste cut into pieces and the 4 pcs, peeled and whole.
    7. 7
      Add the 4 pcs–8 pcs, frozen or thawed. They must cook for at least two hours: a high heat at first and the lowest heat afterwards.120 min
    8. 8
      Almost at the end, add the to taste and the to taste, which finish cooking in the steam.
    9. 9
      Serve the broth with a squeeze of to taste and, on each plate, its potato and its pelotas.
    Pelota mixture with parsley, pine nuts and spices in a large bowl before shaping

    Cocido con pelotas is the Vega Baja del Segura’s hearty stew for the cold months, and one of the most laborious in the Convega recipe book. Here is its recipe, with Convega’s quantities scaled to four servings (the source does not say how many it serves: it gives the chickpeas, the potato and the pelotas per person), and what to look after to get a clear broth and pelotas that do not fall apart.

    The broth: meat in cold water, in order of toughness

    It all starts the day before, with the chickpeas soaking for twenty-four hours, changing the water every few hours. The next day, the meat. Convega insists on two things: it goes in in order of toughness (first the pork, then the bones, then the rest) and always into cold water, never hot.

    What goes in the pot is up to you, working from the source’s kilo of mixed meats: beef, pork, chicken or hen; pig’s trotter and snout, a piece of ear, beef rib bone, turkey wing, chicken thigh, pork ribs, pork fat. Not all of them are needed. Skim as it boils; skim again when the chickpeas go in. The potatoes go in whole and peeled, one per person, and the vegetables are to taste: celery, turnip, carrot. In some households parsnip and carrot are added, in others celery, yolks or pork fat, and the morcillas change from one town to the next. Convega sums it up in one sentence: there is no single recipe for cocido con pelotas.

    The pelotas: when they go in and how long they cook

    The pelotas are made ahead and frozen. They can go in thawed or straight into the broth, according to Convega. They go in when the meat is almost cooked, with the vegetables and the potatoes, and they need at least two hours: a high heat at first and the lowest heat afterwards. That is why this cocido is planned with time to spare, not in a hurry.

    The Christmas pelota of pork, bread and spearmint, with its quantities, is in pilotes de Nadal; the Vega Baja mixture that Convega gives, with veal, longaniza and blanco, appears there as a variant. In the Medio Vinalopó the cocido pelota is a different one: the Elda rellenos, made with lean pork, longaniza, bread and egg. In Torrevieja the pelota contains pig’s blood and comes out darker, according to El Español. Another pot with a pilota and a noodle soup is the Valencian puchero.

    If you have a pressure cooker, Directo al Paladar uses one: chickpeas for 35 minutes at two pressure rings and, after taking out the bones, another 25 minutes with the potatoes and the pelotas. These are two different timings: do not mix them with Convega’s.

    How it is served: broth, lemon and a potato each

    At the end, almost at serving time, the yolks and the morcillas go in, and they finish in the steam. The broth is served with a squeeze of lemon, and each plate gets a potato and one or two pelotas, Convega’s per-person counts. Directo al Paladar takes the chickpeas, the meat and the vegetables to a separate dish so everyone can help themselves, and reduces the broth for a few minutes so you can add thin noodles if you like.

    The broth with lemon is not just a detail: Convega describes it as a perfect restorative after the fiesta days. And it is a Christmas dish in several places: Crevillent’s tourism website cites it as the star of many Christmas tables (the town’s fiestas are in the Crevillent calendar), and in Torrevieja, according to El Español, it is traditional to eat it on Christmas Day. An international stew competition is held there, with two categories of cocido con pelotas, one of them the Torrevieja style. From the same Convega recipe book comes the arroz con costra, and for the sweet of the day, the sweet potato pastissets.

    Mistakes you pay for in the pot

    • Meat in hot water. Convega marks it as important: always cold.
    • Not skimming. Skim as it boils and again with the chickpeas.
    • Pelotas in a hurry. Two hours at least in an ordinary pot; with less, the cocido is not Convega’s.
    • Yolks and morcillas too early. They go in at the end, with the steam.

    If there are lots of you at the table

    A cocido like this is prepared with time and is one of the dishes that work best at a long winter lunch. If there are lots of you, we cook for groups: you will find it under Christmas parties for companies, and to organise the booking, there is the guide to when to book the company Christmas lunch.

    History and variations

    Convega, in its Vega Baja del Segura recipe book, calls it laborious and recalls that it used to be a dish for fiesta days and that there is no single recipe. Crevillent’s tourism website places it on many Christmas tables; in Torrevieja, El Español says it is traditionally eaten on Christmas Day.

    el Baix Segura: According to Convega, some households add parsnip and carrot, others celery, yolks or pork fat; the morcilla also varies, and in the area it is made with onion. Sources

    Torrevieja: In Torrevieja the pelota contains pig’s blood and comes out darker; poultry blood used to be used, according to El Español. Sources

    Tips

    Put the meat into cold water, never hot, and in order of toughness: first the pork, then the bones, then the rest. Sources

    The pelotas can be frozen and put straight into the broth or thawed first. Sources

    Change the chickpeas’ soaking water every few hours. Sources

    If you are in a hurry, a pressure cooker cooks the broth with the chickpeas in 35 minutes, and then the pelotas, about 25 minutes more with the potatoes. Sources

    Deep plate with broth, a pelota, a potato and a piece of lemon

    Cocido con pelotas

    Frequently asked questions

    How long do you boil the pelotas in a cocido?

    At least two hours, according to Convega: first on a high heat and then on the lowest, inside the cocido with the meat almost done. In a pressure cooker the time changes: Directo al Paladar cooks the broth with the chickpeas for 35 minutes and then the pelotas, with the potatoes, for another 25. Do not mix the two timings in the same pot.

    When do you add the pelotas to the broth?

    When the meat is almost cooked, with the vegetables and potatoes already in. If you are using a pressure cooker, they go in after the bones are taken out, together with the potatoes. If yours are frozen, Convega lets you put them straight into the broth or thaw them first. The yolks and the morcilla go in almost at the end.

    How do you make cocido broth with pelotas?

    The meat goes into the pot with cold water, in order of toughness, and is skimmed as it comes to the boil. The soaked chickpeas are added and skimmed too, then the vegetables and the potatoes. The pelotas go in after that, and the broth is served with a squeeze of lemon, which Convega describes as a perfect restorative after the fiesta days.

    How many pelotas and how many chickpeas do you allow per person?

    Convega allows one or two pelotas, one new potato and 80 to 100 g of chickpeas per person. The kilo of mixed meats and the roughly 3 litres of water are for the whole pot, which is why it does not say how many it serves. If there are more of you, raise the chickpeas, potatoes and pelotas per head, and the meat and water with judgement, according to the pot you have.

    Sources

    Recipes

    Served at…

    • Christmas in Crevillent · Sources
    • Torrevieja international stew competition (with cocido con pelotas categories) · Sources