Escudella i Carn d'Olla
A meat-and-vegetable stew with pasta dating to 14th-century Catalonia, genuinely Catalan in primary origin rather than an independent Andorran invention — but authentically eaten and claimed as part of Andorran Christmas tradition too, since Andorran cuisine has long been a branch of Catalan mountain cooking and Catalan is Andorra's official language. Real escudella is served as two separate courses, not one bowl: the broth with pasta first, then the meats and vegetables plated separately. Its centerpiece is the pilota, a large seasoned meatball poached in the broth, and genuine versions use several meats at once — pork, chicken, beef, bacon, and Catalan sausage — rather than just one, which is a common simplification that loses the dish's real character.
⚠ Contains: Gluten, Egg. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 500g chicken pieces
- 500g beef or veal
- 300g pork
- 150g pancetta or bacon
- 1 botifarra sausage (or other fresh pork sausage)
- 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight
- 2 potatoes
- 1/4 cabbage
- 2 carrots
- 1 leek
- 200g galets pasta (or large shell pasta)
- 300g ground pork or beef, 1 egg, garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs, for the pilota
Steps
- Simmer the meats and chickpeas together in a large pot of water for 1.5+ hours.
- Add the root vegetables and sausage.
- Form the pilota from ground meat, egg, garlic, parsley, and breadcrumbs, and add it to the pot.
- Simmer until everything is tender.
- Strain the broth and cook the pasta in it, serving as a first course, then plate the meats and vegetables separately as a second course.