Valencian puchero (putxero) recipe with pilota

The Valencian puchero, or putxero, is a pot of chickpeas with several meats, potato and carrot from which come a soup and a platter of what has cooked in it. This recipe makes it for six, with Directo al Paladar’s quantities, and makes clear what the source doesn’t give: the pilota and the blanquet come without weights.

The pot: what goes in and how long it cooks

The recipe starts the night before, with the chickpeas soaking. The next day they go in the pot inside a mesh bag, so they don’t break, with the potatoes, the carrots, the veal shin, the veal ribs, two bones and a ham end. If you want a stock with more body, the source suggests turnip, parsnip or leek, without giving quantities. It is covered with plenty of water and brought to the boil. Traditional cooking takes about two and a half hours; in a pressure cooker at two rings, about thirty minutes.

Chorizo, pilota and blanquet, at the end

The cured chorizos, the pilota and the blanquet go in during the last few minutes, so they cook without falling apart. The blanquet is, according to the source, white onion black pudding. The source’s pilota is a mixture of minced meat, breadcrumbs, pine nuts, egg and parsley, without quantities. For the technique of shaping and cooking pelotas, you can look at the pilotes de Nadal, but note that that recipe has pork, bread, mint and cinnamon, which is a different mixture. Don’t mix them up.

Two dishes in one: soup and platter

A soup is made with part of the stock: it is heated in a small pan for about four or five minutes and the noodles are cooked in it; rice works just as well. Some cooks fry the pilotas a little first. It is served in deep plates with a ladle of chickpeas, some meat and a pilota, and the rest goes to the table on a large platter for everyone to help themselves.

Puchero or cocido con pelotas

They are alike, which is why they need telling apart. The cocido con pelotas is the one from the Vega Baja: assorted meats in cold water, pelotas cooked for at least two hours, yolks and onion black pudding almost at the end, and a stock with a squeeze of lemon. This puchero has veal, ham and cured chorizo, a pilota with pine nuts and parsley, and a noodle soup. If you like the spoon dish of Alcoy, the olleta de músic is a different pot altogether.

Which meats and why

The base is 400 g of veal shin and 400 g of veal ribs, two veal bones and a ham end, which give the stock its flavour. The cured chorizos go in at the end with the blanquet and the pilota, and that is why they can cook without being overdone. The source also lists two chicken thighs and saffron, but doesn’t use them in its steps, and we have left them out.

The chickpeas, 400 g for six, are best given the overnight soak and the mesh bag: it is the way to get them to the table whole after so many hours in the pot. The two potatoes and the two carrots cook with everything else. If you want more flavour in the stock, the optional vegetables are turnip, parsnip and leek.

Traditional pot and pressure cooker

There are two ways to cook it. In a traditional pot, the puchero takes about two and a half hours. In a pressure cooker at two rings, about 30 minutes, which turns it from a Sunday dish into one that is possible midweek. In both cases the finish is the same: chorizos, pilotas and blanquet in the last few minutes, and the soup separately with part of the stock.

Tomorrow’s stock

Don’t throw away leftover stock: Directo al Paladar suggests using it another day for a baked rice.

For many guests

A pot like this is for sharing. To know how much rice or food to plan per guest, there is the guide to how much rice per person. If there are lots of you, we cook for groups: paellas and show cooking.