Together with lentils we eat either Zampone or Cotechino. Zampone is really a stuffed pig’s trotter. It is stuffed with ground pork, pork rinds, and spices. Cotechino  is made using a meat mixture similar to that of zampone but then stuffed into a pig intestine skin. To cook them you have just to boil in water for 2 or 3 hours and then slice into thick round

Ingredients:

• 350grams of lentils
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 chili pepper
• 200ml of tomato puree or ripe fresh tomatoes
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper

In a saucepan sauté with olive oil the onion with garlic, hot chili pepper and the finely chopped celery. When they are golden add the tomatoes with bay leaves and cook for a few minutes. Add the lentils and a liter of boiling water; cover and let it cook on medium heat for about one hour. Remove the garlic and season with salt and serve warm

Buon Appetito and Happy New Year !!!

a BATTUTO is a flavor base of finely chopped raw ingredients so that the flavor of the vegetables can be imparted to the fat. I suggest you to use the traditional mezzaluna for chopping vegetables and herbs as our grandmothers did in the past; there is no measuring, you have to find the combination you like; it can sometimes includes a fat meat like bacon or lard;

here are some ideas:

• celery, carrots and onions

• rosemary, sage, thyme and garlic

• garlic, parsley and hot chili pepper

a battuto becames a soffritto when is gently sautéed in fat; so the SOFFRITTO is a mixture of vegetables sautéed in olive oil or butter until they become golden and caramelized imparting their flavors to any ingredient that fallows

Now heat a little olive oil or butter in a skillet and add the battuto, once it is golden and the scent of herbs filled the kitchen add the remaining ingredients for a dish and finish cooking it.