![\"Cotechino](\"http:\/\/www.mominthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/cafe-fiorello.jpg\" "\\"cafe")
<\/a><\/center>Although I wasn\u2019t able to get the recipe in time for the new year, Chef Solinas was kind enough to send it to me. Now I (and you) have it on file for next year! Not only did Chef Solinas share his pork sausage and lentils recipe, but he also shared a little of the history behind the tradition\u2026\n
\nThe History<\/span><\/strong>
\nCotechino or Cotechino di Modena, also sometimes spelled cotecchino or coteghino, is a fresh sausage made from pork, fatback, and pork rind, and comes from Modena, Italy, where it has PGI status. Zampone Modena is closely related and also has PGI status.\n
As Served with Polenta and Lentils: Mirandola developed its own specialty enveloped in a hollowed out pig\u2019s trotter, named the Zampone.<\/p>\n By the 18th century it had become more popular than the yellowish sausage that had been around at the time, and in the 19th century entered mass production in and around the area.<\/p>\n Cotechino is often served with lentils or cannellini beans with a sauce alongside mashed potatoes, especially around the New Year.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Cotechino dates back to around 1511 to Gavello, where, whilst besieged, the people had to find a way to preserve meat and use the less tender cuts, so made the cotechino.<\/p>\n