Cassoeula milanese or Bottaggio alla milanese: typical Italian dish

The cassoeula is a typical Italian dish. It is made with cabbage and the poorest parts of the pork: ribs, feet, rinds. There are many versions of this dish, depending on the areas of Lombardy.

Cassoeula milanese or Bottaggio alla milanese

Ingredients – 4 people

500g pork ribs
200g pork rinds
52 pork feet
54 pork sausages
52 carrots
5Celery q.s.
51 onion
51kg cabbage
5sage q.s.
5laurel q.s.
5butter q.s.
5extra virgin olive oil q.s.
51 glass white wine
51 spoon tomato sauce
5Salt q.s.
5Pepper q.s.

Each area of Lombardy has its own version of Cassoeula: near Pavia it is made with ribs, near Como it is made with pork head instead of pork feet, in the west area of Milan it is made with goose meat.

How to cook the Cassoeula milanese

Clean the rinds and the feet with a knife and wash them with lukewarm water. Cut the rinds in pieces (not too little). Put everything in a pot and cover it with cold water. Wait until the water boils, add salt and leave it cook for 50 minutes. Then, drain it.
Wash carrots and celery and mince them with onion.
In a pan, brown the minced vegetables with oil and butter, add the ribs and then add the rinds and the feet.
Add a glass of white wine, a spoon of tomato sauce, salt and pepper, some leaves of sage, laurel and a cup of warm water. Let it cook with a lid, mixing sometimes.
Clean the cabbage, removing the hard leaves and cut it in big pieces.
When it is half cooked, add the pork sausages (after you made holes in them) and the cabbage. Let it continue cooking slowly with a lid.
The cassoeula is ready when the meat is tender, the rind melts in your mouth and the cabbage is soft.