Dublin Coddle (Irish)
Submitted by Pegb46
Dublin coddle is Ireland’s beloved one-pot supper of sausages, bacon, potatoes, and onions simmered low and slow until everything melts together. Serve with soda bread and a bottle of stout for the full Dublin experience.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
5 hrsREADY
If there’s one dish that captures the soul of Dublin’s working-class kitchens, it’s coddle. Layers of thick pork sausages, smoked bacon, potatoes, and roughly chopped onions go into a heavy pot with just enough water to barely cover. Then you leave it alone.
Two hours is grand. Five hours is better. The lower and slower you cook it, the more the potatoes break down into the broth, the bacon renders its smoky fat into everything, and the sausages go soft and yielding. There’s no thickener, no stock cube, no herbs beyond a handful of parsley. The ingredients do all the work themselves.
Tear off a chunk of white soda farl, pour a stout, and you’re having supper the way Dubliners have for generations.
Kitchen Tips
- Leave the rind on the bacon. It adds a gorgeous silky richness to the broth that you simply won’t get without it.
- Use the best pork sausages you can find. They’re the heart of the dish, and cheap sausages fall apart into mush.
- Keep the heat as low as it will go. A gentle bubble is all you want. If it’s boiling, it’s too hot.
- For extra flavor, brown the sausages quickly under the broiler before serving. That crisp skin against the soft interior is a treat.
Ingredients
Directions
If preferred, buy regular bacon with the rind on and cut it up into even-sized pieces.
Leave on the rind, as it adds great richness to the soup.
Buy the finest quality pork sausages you can afford (or find).
Peel and chop the onions roughly.
Peel the potatoes as thinly as possible. If they are large, then cut them into two or three large pieces; otherwise leave them whole.
Chop the fresh parsley.
Place a layer of onions in the bottom of a heavy pot with a good close-fitting lid.
Layer all the other ingredients, giving each layer a grind or so of fresh pepper.
Add no more than 2 cups of water to the pot.
Bring the water to the boil, then reduce the heat at once, cover tightly, and barely simmer for 2 to 5 hours.
The perfect way to cook it is in a heavy casserole pot in a very low oven at 250 degrees F. The longer and slower the cooking, the better.
If preferred, before serving, remove the sausages and quickly brown them on one side under the broiler.
Serve with white soda farl to mop up the soup, and bottles of stout.
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