How to make the Cotechinata:
People don't often eat pork skins any more, but back in the days when famine was always lurking nothing was allowed to go to waste. And as is often the case with so-called lesser meats, the ingenuity people used in preparing them led to very tasty dishes. Cotechinata are pigskin rollups, a specialty from Basilicata: true peasant food of a sort that one doesn't encounter often nowadays.
Cut the pork rind in a square of 7 cm. side. Scrape, wash and blanch for 10 minutes. Chop the bacon, the garlic, chilli and a bit 'of parsley. Put everything in a pan and sauté in 1 tablespoon of lard.
Spread this mixture on the slices of rind, season with salt, roll and secure with a toothpick.
Put into a pan sauce of tomato restricted previously prepared, add the rolls of the rind and cook over very low heat
for about 2 hours.
You can use the sauce for seasoning and the rolls of homemade pasta, or you get a great main course by serving rolls accompanied by a dish of lentils.
Serves 6
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