I start this on a Friday night if I want to serve it for Sunday lunch.
Ingredients for about 8 people:
- 700 g pinto beans or similar
- 1 pig's trotter and the meatier portion above the trotter (~1.5 kg in total). Ask the butcher to slice it half lengthwise, and then to cut it in ~5 cm long portions crosswise. You won't be able to do this at home.
- 1 pig's ear
- 1.5 kg pork spare ribs, also cut in small portions (as if for stewing)
- 500 g pork belly, a thick slice of about 7 cm cut in two portions
- 1 chouriço -- this is a Portuguese smoked pork meat sausage (~275g)
- 1 morcela -- this is a Portuguese blood sausage (~300 g)
- 1 farinheira -- this is a Portuguese smoked sausage that is made out of flour and pork fat (it tastes way better than it sounds) (~150g)
- 4 bay leaves
- one 800 g tin of whole tomatoes
- 3 large onions
- 4 garlic cloves
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced into 0.5 cm rounds
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Olive oil.
On Friday night, pick the beans of stones and other impurities; place them in a large bowl and wash them thoroughly in cold water. Fill the bowl with cold water and let the beans soak overnight. Wash all the pork meat (not the sausages) in cold running water and place them in a large tray. Make sure there are no hairs in the meat. If there are, burn them with a lighter and scrape the skin with a sharp knife. Salt the pork belly and pig's trotters quite heavily, and more sparingly the ribs and the ear. Cover the tray with cling film, and put it in the fridge overnight.
On Saturday morning, remove the water from the beans, cover the bowl with cling film and put it in the fridge until you are ready to boil the beans. Wash the meats to remove all the salt and put them also back in the fridge. I typically boil the beans at night.
You should need two large pots to boil the beans. Divide the beans between the two pots and try to divide the different types of meat also. Cut the chouriço in half, peel and cut one onion in half, and place each of the halves in each pot. The morcela will have to go to one the pots because you should not cut it in half. Cover the contents of the pots with cold water, add a slug of olive oil and a bay leave, and bring to the boil. Scum the foam, and let it simmer until the beans are cooked. This should take about an hour, but it depends on many factors, and you may need to add more water. Notice that no salt is added, as the sausages and the other meats will have plenty of salt; notice also that the farinheira does not go into the pot at this point. Monitor the beans and meat closely: if you notice that the ribs are cooked before the beans, remove them from the pots and keep simmering.
Once everything is properly cooked, remove the meats and sausages from the pots, and let them cool. When they are cold enough to handle, cut them into bite sizes, making sure that you keep the different types separated. This will make it easier to divide the meats between the two pots when we cook the feijoada. Slice the chouriço in ~1cm rounds and reserve. Do not cut the morcela in rounds. Put all the meat back into a large clean tray, and place it in the fridge. Keep the beans in the cooking liquid. If it's warm outside, place the beans in the fridge until you're ready to cook.
Come Sunday morning, we cook the feijoada. In each of the two pots, put a generous slug of olive oil, one diced onion, 2 minced garlic cloves and one bay leave. Cook on medium heat until the onion starts to colour. Next, add half the tomato tin, crushing the tomatoes with your hand and removing any hard bits. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Let this cook until a nice tomato sauce forms. You can add some of the cooking liquid along the way and also more olive oil if needed. Meanwhile, pierce the farinheira in several places with a toothpick, and gently boil it for 15 minutes in a small pot with some of the cooking liquid. Reserve this cooking liquid.
Once the sauce is cooked, add the meats and the carrots, the beans and some cooking liquid, enough to almost cover the content of the pots - you should use preferably the cooking liquid used to boil the farinheira, but it will typically not be enough. Carefully mix everything with a large spoon. The pots have then to simmer until all the flavors meld, about 1/2 an hour. Check for salt and pepper, and be ready to add more of the cooking liquid along the way.
When you are ready to serve, warm the farinheira and the morcela in some of the cooking liquid. Slice these sausages into ~1 cm rounds and put them on a plate to serve alongside the feijoada. It is typically served with a simple lettuce salad and some white rice.
It's not a very pretty dish to look at - hence no photos - but it sure is delicious!
