Pancotto pugliese

Pancotto pugliese

A recipe that is all about typical Italian comfort food and is a great way to use up stale bread. This recipe comes from Puglia (Apulia), right down in the heel of southern Italy.

Pancotto pugliese

  • Serves icon Serves 4 as a light lunch
  • Time icon Hands-on time 30 min

A recipe that is all about typical Italian comfort food and is a great way to use up stale bread. This recipe comes from Puglia (Apulia), right down in the heel of southern Italy.

Nutrition: per serving

Calories
409kcals
Fat
17.8g (5.4g saturated)
Protein
23g protein
Carbohydrates
35g (3.9g sugars)
Fibre
8.6g
Salt
1.7g

Ingredients

  • 750ml good quality fresh chicken stock (see tip)
  • 8 small new potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
  • 3 garlic cloves, sliced, plus an extra clove for rubbing
  • ¼-½ tsp chilli flakes (to taste)
  • 4 free-range pork sausages (see tip), meat squeezed out and broken into large chunks
  • 3 slices stale pugliese-style bread (the food team used Crosta & Mollica Pane Pugliese, available from Waitrose and independent stores, but any sturdy white bread, such as sourdough, would be good)
  • 400g tin cannellini or borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 head spring greens, shredded
  • 8 tenderstem broccoli spears, cut into 2cm lengths
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • Lemon juice for squeezing
Sticky screen? No thanks! Tap to prevent your screen from going off while cooking.

Method

  1. Put the stock in a medium pan and bring to a simmer. Add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and pat dry with kitchen paper. Keep the stock on a gentle simmer. Meanwhile put a deep, wide frying pan with a lid over a gentle heat, pour in the 2 tbsp olive oil, add the garlic and chilli flakes, then cook for 3-4 minutes until soft. Remove the garlic from the pan (tip the pan, then spoon out – it doesn’t matter if you take some oil with it) and set aside.
  2. Increase the heat under the pan to medium-high, add the sausagemeat chunks and fry for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden – it’s fine if they break up a bit. Roughly tear up 1 slice of the bread and add along with the cooked potatoes. Season well, add 150ml of the stock, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
  3. After 10 minutes, bring the rest of the stock back up to the boil and add the beans, spring greens and broccoli spears, then cook for 5 minutes.
  4. Take off the frying pan lid, add the vinegar and cook for 1 minute, then stir gently and add the veg, reserved garlic and remaining stock. Bubble for 2 minutes while you toast the 2 other slices of bread. Rub the toasts with the remaining garlic clove, then divide among 4 soup bowls. Ladle the stew over the toast, drizzle with olive oil, squeeze over some lemon juice and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Serve hot or warm.

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving
Calories
409kcals
Fat
17.8g (5.4g saturated)
Protein
23g protein
Carbohydrates
35g (3.9g sugars)
Fibre
8.6g
Salt
1.7g

delicious. tips

  1. Good quality stock and sausages are important here. If you can find some Italian pork and fennel sausages (salsiccia al finocchio), use those. Otherwise go for a British free-range sausage with garlic and pepper.

Buy ingredients online

Subscribe

Fancy getting a copy in print?

Subscribe to our magazine

Rate & review

Rate

Reviews

Share a tip

Or, how about...?

Save recipe icon Save recipe icon Save recipe

Chicken thigh recipes

Easy chicken cassoulet with cannellini beans

This French favourite couldn’t be easier with our two-step easy...

Save recipe icon Save recipe icon Save recipe

Cannellini beans and rosemary on bruschetta

This easy vegetarian bruschetta recipe with tomato and rosemary is...

Save recipe icon Save recipe icon Save recipe

Healthy fish recipes

Pan-fried tuna with zingy cannellini beans

Ready in less than 10 minutes, this pan-fried tuna with...

Subscribe to our magazine

Food stories, skills and tested recipes, straight to your door... Enjoy 5 issues for just £5 with our special introductory offer.

Subscribe

Unleash your inner chef

Looking for inspiration? Receive the latest recipes with our newsletter

We treat your data with care. See our privacy policy. By signing up, you are agreeing to delicious.’ terms and conditions. Unsubscribe at any time.