Chef Isabel
Aguaillo de la Sierra de Cadiz
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Escudella Fresca Mallorquina
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Escudella fresca is Mallorca's spring cocido: fresh broad beans and peas, artichokes, potato, and the island's cured pork larder simmered into a green, light spoon dish.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Comfort Food
One Pot
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
1 hr 25 min cook•2 hr total
Yield6 servings
Escudella fresca Mallorquina belongs to Mallorca in spring, when the broad beans and peas are still sweet enough to bother shelling. It is a cocido, yes, but not a heavy Castilian one. This one is island spoon food, cocina de cuchara, made green and fresh with pods, artichokes, potato, cabbage, and the quiet strength of butifarro, blanquet, and camaiot.
The method that decides it is the order. Build a slow sofrito, the onion base, until it turns dark gold and sweet, then let the pork and broth give the pot its floor before the tender spring vegetables go in. Broad beans and peas are not firewood. Boil them hard and long and you lose the very thing the dish is named for: freshness.
If you are far from Mallorca, no hace falta haber pisado Espana. Use fresh fava beans if you can, frozen broad beans and peas if the market gives you no better, and find mild Spanish morcilla or Catalan botifarra negra in place of butifarro. A good cooked pork sausage can stand in for blanquet, and a small piece of cured pork shoulder can do the work of camaiot. It changes the accent, not the shape of the dish.
Make it when the pods look alive. Not tired, not leathery, not because a calendar said spring. In my Margin for this one I wrote only this: add the peas late. A small note, but it saves the pot. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Escudella fresca is the Mallorcan spring member of the wider Catalan-speaking escudella family, shaped by the island's market gardens and its matanza larder. Its name points to the season: fresh broad beans, peas, artichokes, and young vegetables lightening a pot that still carries preserved pork from the household slaughter. The Mallorcan character comes from local embutits such as butifarro, blanquet, camaiot, and sometimes sobrassada, which season the broth without turning it into a winter stew.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh shelled broad beans
Quantity
300g
fresh shelled peas
Quantity
250g
pork ribs
Quantity
250g
cut into small pieces
camaiot
Quantity
150g
cut into thick cubes
butifarro mallorquin
Quantity
2, about 160g total
blanquet
Quantity
1, about 120g
sobrassada (optional)
Quantity
80g
onion
Quantity
1 large
finely chopped
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
2
grated
garlic
Quantity
3 cloves
minced
olive oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
artichokes
Quantity
2 medium
trimmed and quartered
potatoes
Quantity
250g
peeled and cut into large chunks
green cabbage
Quantity
200g
thickly sliced
green beans
Quantity
150g
cut into short lengths
carrot
Quantity
1 small
sliced
sweet pimenton
Quantity
1 teaspoon
bay leaf
Quantity
1
water or light unsalted pork stock
Quantity
1.5 litres
small soup pasta or short fideos (optional)
Quantity
80g
salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh shelled broad beans | 300g |
| fresh shelled peas | 250g |
| pork ribscut into small pieces | 250g |
| camaiotcut into thick cubes | 150g |
| butifarro mallorquin | 2, about 160g total |
| blanquet | 1, about 120g |
| sobrassada (optional) | 80g |
| onionfinely chopped | 1 large |
| ripe tomatoesgrated | 2 |
| garlicminced | 3 cloves |
| olive oil | 3 tablespoons |
| artichokestrimmed and quartered | 2 medium |
| potatoespeeled and cut into large chunks | 250g |
| green cabbagethickly sliced | 200g |
| green beanscut into short lengths | 150g |
| carrotsliced | 1 small |
| sweet pimenton | 1 teaspoon |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| water or light unsalted pork stock | 1.5 litres |
| small soup pasta or short fideos (optional) | 80g |
| salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide heavy pot or olla, 5 to 6 litres
- •Sharp paring knife for artichokes
- •Box grater for tomato
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the spring vegetables
Shell the broad beans and peas, keeping them separate. Trim the artichokes down to the pale hearts, quarter them, and drop them into water with a squeeze of lemon if you are not using them at once. Cut the potatoes, cabbage, green beans, and carrot before the pot starts; this stew moves calmly, but it does not wait while you chase vegetables around the counter.
- 2
Brown the pork
Warm the olive oil in a wide heavy pot over medium heat. Salt the pork ribs lightly and brown them for 8 to 10 minutes, turning until the edges take colour. Add the camaiot and let it gloss the oil for 2 minutes, but do not fry the butifarro or blanquet yet; they are softer sausages and will split if bullied.
If your camaiot is already very peppery or salty, go carefully with salt until the broth has simmered and you can taste it properly. - 3
Cook the sofrito
Lower the heat and add the onion with a pinch of salt. Cook it slowly for 15 minutes, stirring often, until it is dark gold and soft. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the grated tomato, and cook until the tomato loses its water and the oil shows at the edges. This slow sofrito is what gives sweetness to a light spring pot; rush it and the broth tastes thin.
- 4
Build the broth
Stir in the pimenton off the heat for a few seconds so it smells warm but does not scorch. Add the bay leaf and 1.5 litres water or light unsalted pork stock, scraping the bottom of the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover partly and cook for 30 minutes, until the pork ribs are nearly tender and the broth has taken the colour of the sofrito.
- 5
Add sturdy vegetables
Add the potatoes, carrot, green beans, cabbage, and artichokes. Prick the butifarro and blanquet once with the tip of a knife and settle them into the pot. Simmer gently for 18 to 22 minutes, until the potato is almost tender. The pot should move with small bubbles, not a hard boil.
- 6
Keep it fresh
Add the broad beans and simmer for 6 minutes. Add the peas and the optional pasta or short fideos, if using, and cook 6 to 8 minutes more, just until the pasta is done and the peas are tender but still green. If using sobrassada, pinch it into small pieces and stir it in during the last 5 minutes so it melts into the broth without taking over.
- 7
Rest and serve
Taste for salt and black pepper. Lift out the butifarro and blanquet, slice them thickly, and return them to the pot. Let the escudella rest off the heat for 10 minutes so the broth settles and the vegetables finish gently. Serve in deep bowls with a little of every meat and vegetable in each one. Tal como se hace alli: generous, green, and not overcooked.
Chef Tips
- •Make this when fresh broad beans and peas are worth shelling. If the pods are limp or the beans are starchy, use good frozen broad beans and peas instead; the dish will be softer in texture, but cleaner than a tired market version.
- •Butifarro mallorquin, blanquet, and camaiot are the island's voice in the pot. If you cannot find them, use a mild Spanish morcilla for the butifarro, a pale cooked pork sausage for the blanquet, and a small piece of cured pork shoulder or good cooked ham for the camaiot. Do not use fresh Mexican chorizo. Different animal, different dish.
- •Add the peas near the end. It sounds small, but it decides the stew. Long boiling turns them khaki and dull, and then you have made a winter pot with spring ingredients.
- •Some Mallorcan homes add a little short pasta or fideos, others keep the broth clearer. Both are home ways. If you use pasta, serve the stew the same day because it keeps drinking the broth as it sits.
- •Serve with plain country bread and a Mallorcan red with enough freshness for the vegetables, or a dry rosado if the day has already turned warm.
Advance Preparation
- •Shell the broad beans and peas up to 1 day ahead and keep them covered in the refrigerator.
- •The sofrito and pork broth can be cooked 1 day ahead through step 4; chill it, skim any set fat if you like, then continue with the vegetables before serving.
- •Leftovers keep 2 days, but the peas lose their bright colour and pasta will thicken the broth. Reheat gently and loosen with a little water.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 600g)
Calories
675 calories
Total Fat
43 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
29 g
Cholesterol
90 mg
Sodium
1500 mg
Total Carbohydrates
45 g
Dietary Fiber
11 g
Sugars
10 g
Protein
29 g
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