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Salame Cotto

Salame Cotto

How to make a classic Italian salume at home: Salame Cotto, aka "cooked salami".

Course Appetiser, Charcuterie, Salumi
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Author Manuela Zangara

Ingredients

  • 700 gms – 1.5 lbs. pork scotch fillet
  • 300 gms – 0.7 lbs. pork rashers
  • 25 gms – 0.9 oz. salt
  • 50 ml – 1.7 oz. red wine
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 20 pepper corns
  • 2 gms – 0.07 oz. ground pepper
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • 2 juniper berries crushed
  • ¼ tsp clove powder
  • Salami casing soaked in tepid water for at least 20 minutes and rinsed

Instructions

  1. Roughly chop the scotch fillet and the rashers.
  2. Grind the scotch fillet and 1/3 of the rashers using a 0.5 cm – 0.2 inch diameter grinder.
  3. Cut the remaining 2/3 of the rashers with a knife into 1.3 cm – ½ inch pieces.
  4. Mix the ground meat and the chopped rashers together in a bowl. Add the salt, red wine, nutmeg, pepper corns, ground pepper, garlic powder, juniper berries and clove powder and knead well.
  5. Stuff the salami into the casing and tie it off with a bubble knot.
  6. Tie the salami with butcher’s twine. Click here for a video on how to do this.
  7. Let it rest, uncovered, at 20° to 25°C (68°F – 77°F) for 24 hours.
    Salame Cotto
  8. The following day, using a clean needle, poke holes all over the salami, especially where there may be air pockets.
  9. Wrap it in baking paper and put it in a pot. Cover it with cold water and put it on the fire. When it starts boiling, put the fire on medium-low and let it simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour. The salami is cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 80°C - 176°F (this usually takes 1 hour per kg – 2.2. lbs., so if your salami weighs 2 kg – 4.4. lbs, then it will have to cook for 2 hours. These timings are only indicative though, as the cooking time also depends on the thickness of the salami).
  10. When cooked, let it cool down in the cooking water.
  11. Then drain it, pat it dry and refrigerate it for at least 24 hours before slicing it.
  12. Enjoy it with some crusty bread and a glass of red wine!

Recipe Notes

Store in the fridge for up to 1 week, wrapped in aluminium foil.