Portuguese Stew Recipe 😊🥬

 Portuguese Stew Recipe

Ingredients:

Meats:

500g beef (shoulder or brisket)

500g pork (shoulder or loin)

1 piece of bacon (about 200g)

2 pieces of meat sausage

2 pieces of black pudding

1 sausage (optional)

1 pig's ear (optional)

1 pig's foot (optional)

Vegetables:

4 large potatoes

4 carrots

2 large turnips

1 medium cabbage

1 bunch of Portuguese kale (or collard greens)

1 large onion

200g white beans (optional, previously cooked)

Seasonings:

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

4 cloves of garlic

Olive oil (for drizzling)

Preparation:

Preparing the meat: Place a large pot of water on the stove and add the pork. beef, pork, bacon, pig's ear and pig's foot (if using). Cook for about 1 to 1.5 hours, until the meat is very tender. While cooking, remove the foam that forms on the surface with a slotted spoon.

Adding the Sausages: After the meat is cooked, add the chorizo, black pudding and farinheira (if using). Cook for another 30 minutes, taking care not to let the farinheira fall apart (you can poke small holes in it with a toothpick to prevent it from bursting). Remove the sausages as soon as they are cooked and set aside.

Cooking the Vegetables: In the same pan with the meat broth, add the vegetables. Start with the potatoes, carrots and turnips, which take longer to cook. After about 10 minutes, add the cabbage and Portuguese kale, which need less time. Cook everything until the vegetables are soft, but not falling apart.

Beans (optional): If you are using white beans, they should be cooked separately until soft. Then, they can be added to the stew along with the vegetables, in the last part of the preparation.

Assembly and Serving: Once everything is cooked, start slicing the meats and sausages into generous pieces. Place the meats and sausages in a large platter and the vegetables in another. Drizzle everything with a dash of olive oil and serve with a little of the broth in which everything was cooked.

Tips:

Serve with white rice or even a good slice of cornbread.

The secret to stewing is time. Let the ingredients cook slowly so that the flavors blend evenly.

Drizzle the dish with a little of the broth when serving to add more juiciness and flavor.

This is the kind of dish that brings back memories of families gathered around the table, with laughter and conversations that lasted for hours. Cozido à Portuguesa is a complete experience, which goes beyond flavor, bringing a little of the tradition of Portugal with every bite.