Escudella i carn d'olla

Ingredients

• For the broth
• 500 g veal bones, chopped by the butcher
• 1 whole chicken, or boiling fowl, jointed
• 400 g pork ribs
• 1 pork trotter, split
• 200 g salt cod, soaked overnight, drained
• 150 g blood sausage (morcilla / botifarra negra), whole
• 250 g dried garbanzos (chickpeas), soaked overnight in cold water
• 2 carrots, peeled, halved
• 2 parsnips or turnips, peeled, halved
• 2 leeks, trimmed, halved lengthways
• 3 celery sticks
• 1 head of garlic, halved crossways
• fine salt, added only at the end
• For the pilota
• 400 g ground pork
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 small handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• fine salt and black pepper
• For the first course
• 300 g galets (large shell-shaped pasta tubes), uncooked
• To serve (second course)
• extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• Dijon mustard, on the side
• pa amb tomàquet (bread rubbed with tomato and olive oil)

Method

1. 1
   Place the veal bones, chicken, pork ribs, and pork trotter in a very large pot. Cover generously with cold water and bring slowly to a simmer. As foam and fat rise to the surface, remove them with a ladle or flat spoon — this must be done diligently and repeatedly. The broth is ready to proceed when the surface runs clear and only a faint, clean steam rises.
2. 2
   Add the root vegetables, leeks, celery, and halved head of garlic to the pot. Maintain a gentle, steady simmer — never a rolling boil — for 2 hours. At the midpoint, drain the soaked garbanzos and add them directly to the broth. The vegetables should be yielding but not collapsed; the garbanzos tender to the bite, with no chalky centre.
3. 3
   While the pot simmers, prepare the pilota: combine the ground pork, beaten eggs, chopped garlic, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Work the mixture briefly until cohesive, then form into one large oval ball or several smaller ones. Refrigerate until required. The mixture should hold its shape when pressed — firm, not slack.
4. 4
   This is where the dish lives or dies. In the final 30 minutes of cooking, lower the salt cod and blood sausage gently into the broth, then add the pilota. Maintain a quiet simmer: a vigorous boil will break the pilota apart and turn the salt cod to rags. The pilota is done when it is firm throughout and shows no pink at its centre when cut — test with a skewer, which should meet no resistance.
5. 5
   Lift all the solid ingredients from the broth and keep them warm, covered. Taste the broth now for the first time and season with fine salt — it will have concentrated through the long cook. Ladle the broth into a clean pot, keeping it at a brisk simmer. Add the galets and cook them directly in the broth until al dente; they must not be pre-cooked or held. The pasta is ready when it offers slight resistance at the centre.
6. 6
   Serve the broth with the galets and sliced pilota as the first course. The finished broth will carry a golden, slightly fatty surface — this is correct and should not be skimmed away at service. Then bring the meats, vegetables, salt cod, and blood sausage to the table as the second course, with olive oil, mustard, and pa amb tomàquet alongside.