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1
Start the Broth with the Meats
20 Mins • Boiling & Skimming
Boiling, 100°C (212°F), then a gentle simmer about 95°C (200°F)
Put the chicken, pork ribs, beef shank and 3 litres (about 12 cups) of cold water in your largest pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Skim off the grey foam that rises for the first 10 minutes — this keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting. Add half the salt, then lower the heat to the gentlest simmer, with only the odd bubble breaking the surface.
Start with cold water, never hot: cold water draws flavour out of the meat slowly and gives a clearer broth.
Done when: Broth is clear, foam skimmed, simmering with lazy bubbles.
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2
Add Chickpeas and Vegetables
90 Mins • Simmering
Gentle simmer, about 95°C (200°F)
Add the soaked chickpeas, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, leek and celery to the pot. Keep the simmer gentle for about 90 minutes until the chickpeas are creamy, the potatoes are tender and the meats are falling off the bone. Top up with a little boiling water if the level drops below the ingredients.
If the pot boils hard, the broth turns cloudy and the meat toughens. A bare simmer is the whole secret.
Done when: Chickpeas squash easily; potatoes yield to a knife; meat pulls from the bone.
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3
Cook the Pilota in the Broth
30 Mins • Simmering
Gentle simmer, about 95°C (200°F); pilota centre 71°C (160°F)
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, about 190°C (375°F), and brown the floured pilota on all sides for about 5 minutes — just for colour and a skin that holds it together. Lower it gently into the simmering broth and cook for 25 minutes more. The pilota is done when it feels firm and a thermometer in the centre reads at least 71°C (160°F).
Lower the pilota in on a slotted spoon; dropping it in splashes hot broth and can crack it.
Done when: Pilota firm to the touch, centre at least 71°C (160°F).
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4
Add the Sausages and Rest
20 Mins • Simmering & Resting
Gentle simmer, about 95°C (200°F)
Add the botifarra sausages to the pot for the last 20 minutes of cooking — any longer and they split and dry out. Then lift the pot off the heat and rest for 10 minutes so the flavours settle and the meats firm up enough to slice. Taste the broth and adjust the salt.
Resting matters: slicing hot, just-cooked meat shreds it; ten minutes makes clean slices.
Done when: Sausages plump and unbroken; broth richly seasoned.
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5
Serve the Soup, Then the Platter
15 Mins • Cooking Pasta & Serving
Boiling broth, 100°C (212°F)
Lift the meats, vegetables and pilota out onto a warm platter and cover loosely with foil. Bring the strained broth back to a rolling boil and cook the galets for the time on the packet, usually 10–12 minutes, until tender. Serve the soup first, in deep bowls. Then bring the platter to the table, slice the pilota into thick rounds, and let everyone help themselves to meat and vegetables with crusty bread.
Cook the pasta in the broth, not in water — the galets soak up the flavour of the whole pot.
Done when: Galets tender but not mushy; pilota slices cleanly; platter steaming.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve escudella the traditional way: soup with galets first, then the carn d'olla platter with sliced pilota and bread. It is a meal that asks for a long table and no hurry.
Andorra
1h 5m
France
Vietnam