This home-style cocido serves four and takes between five and seven hours to prepare. As with many cocidos, the pleasure lies not only in the finished dish but in the sequence of service: broth first, then chickpeas and vegetables, then the meats.

Serves 4 | Total time: 5–7 hours

For the meats and bones
1 kg beef shank (morcillo)
3 marrow bones and 3 knee bones
4 cured ham tips (puntas de jamón)
1/2 veal foot
1/2 cleaned chicken
250 g diced Spanish ham
3 Asturian chorizos
3 onion blood sausages (morcillas de cebolla)
200 g Iberian pork fat (tocino)
250 g pancetta

For the vegetables and pantry
300 g dried chickpeas
1 cabbage
4 turnips
6 baby carrots
8 baby potatoes
2 onions
4 whole cloves
300 g wheat semolina vermicelli (fideos)
Coarse sea salt

The night before
Place the chickpeas in a large bowl with plenty of lukewarm water. Leave to soak overnight. In the morning, drain and set aside.

Step One
Build the broth: Fill a large pot with 4 to 4.5 liters of water. Add the beef shank, bones, chicken, ham tips, and veal foot. Stud the peeled onions with the cloves and add them to the pot with a handful of coarse salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low. Use a skimmer to remove any foam or excess fat that rises to the surface, keeping the broth as clear as possible. In 20-minute intervals, add the diced ham, turnips, peeled whole potatoes and peeled carrots, in that order. Simmer for 2 hours, skimming regularly.

Step Two
Add the chickpeas and finish the pot: Add the soaked chickpeas to the pot and simmer over medium heat for 3 hours, skimming as needed. Cook the chorizos and morcillas in a separate small pot for 40 minutes so the main broth does not become too greasy. Add them to the main pot at the end. Add the cabbage for the final 30 minutes.

Step Three
Serve the three vuelcos: Strain the broth into a separate pot and bring it to a boil. Add the vermicelli and cook a sopa de fideos. Serve in three vuelcos. First: the noodle soup, traditionally accompanied by piparras and radishes. Second: the chickpeas and vegetables, served with tomato sauce and a touch of cumin. Third: the platter of meats, chorizo and morcilla.