Rancho
Rancho is a delicious stew, that is sometimes made from another Portuguese stew called Cozido à portuguesa. Of course if you want to make rancho from scratch it is also possible, but if you use a day old cozido, it will be even better.
The main idea of rancho was to add ingredients to the old cozido to stretch another serving out of it by adding pasta and extra potatoes.
Ingredients
- 250gr spare ribs
- 250gr pig ear
- 250gr bochechas (also called Joue or cheek)
- 100gr beef sausage (smoked if possible)
- 2 medium onions
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 or 3 large potatoes cubed
- 2 carrots, in thick slices
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 1/2 cups of cabbage, coarsely chopped
- 200gr chickpeas
- 200gr macaroni
- 150gr tomato paste
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cloves of garlic
- salt and pepper
- 1tsp minced parsley for garnish
Optionally rancho can have more meat:
- stomach, cut into small bits
- tongue, cut into cubes
- bacon, cut into cubes
Preparation
If you have already made cozido, you can remove the bones from the meat and set it aside with the rest until the rancho base is done. If you are starting from scratch, read on.
Leave the chickpeas in water overnight. If using canned chickpeas (which is generally frowned upon) you can add them just before finishing the rancho.
In a pressure cooker (or with about 6 hours time), first add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and seal all the meats. Then add the chickpeas and cabbage and cover with water, adding a few pinches of salt. Let it boil until all the meat is done, at least 1 hour in a pressure cooker, or four hours in a regular pot at medium heat. The regular pot has the advantage that the meat can be introduced according to its cooking time, resulting in a better stew altogether.
When the meat is nearly done, add the potatoes and carrots and cook until they are almost done. Then separate the meat and other ingredients from the broth putting them into different containers. Congratulations! You have just made Cozido. Now read on about how to turn it into rancho.
Cut up your onions and add them to a pot over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic next and the two bay leaves. When it starts to brown, add the tomato paste and stir well.
After the tomato paste is hot add the white wine and the beef stock. Wait for it to boil and add the pasta. If the pasta is not fully submerged in the stew add a little bit of water, but be careful to add little by little. The pasta will dry up the stew and you can add more water (or broth) as needed.
When the pasta is half done, add all the meats and vegetables from the cozido. You can add a little more broth to mix well. Wait another 10 minutes until it all boils together and turn off the heat.
Add your minced parsley on top of every portion you serve, making sure to put a slice of bread next to every bowl.
This stew will serve 6 hungry stew lovers.