Rellena

Ingredients

Sausage

• 1 litrefresh pig’s blood, strained
• 400 gcooked white rice, cooled
• 200 gcooked peas
• 300 gonions, chopped fine
• 200 gpork back fat, cut in small cubes
• 1large bunch spring onions, sliced fine
• 1 bunchcoriander, chopped
• 2 tbspground cumin
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 2m wide natural hog casing, rinsed and soaked

To cook and serve

• 3 litreswater
• oil, for frying
• lime wedges and ají

Directions

1. Strain the blood through a fine sieve to remove any clots, which would set into hard lumps.
2. Sweat the onion in a little of the fat over low heat for 15 minutes until soft but not coloured, then cool it completely.
3. Mix the cooled onion, cooked rice, peas, cubed fat, spring onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper into the blood. The rice should be well cooked and cold — undercooked rice swells inside the casing and splits it.
4. Fill the casing no more than two-thirds full, because the rice takes up liquid and expands, and tie into 15 cm lengths. Prick each three or four times.
5. Bring the water to 80°C (176°F) — barely a bubble — and poach the sausages for 45 minutes to an hour, until a skewer comes out clean. A boil bursts them without exception.
6. Lift out, cool completely and refrigerate overnight. They will not slice until they are properly cold.
7. Cut into thick slices and fry in a little oil until crisp on both sides. Serve with lime and ají, beside chicharrón and potato.

Technique

• Fresh blood, used the day it is collected. This is why rellena belongs to the day of the slaughter.
• Two-thirds full, no more. The rice is the reason: it swells, and an overfilled sausage bursts in the pot every time.
• Eighty degrees. Every disaster with blood sausage is a pot that boiled.

Substitutions

• Cooked barley or bulgur in place of some of the rice.
• Broad beans for the peas, which is done in parts of Antioquia.

Variations

• The onion-based morcilla of Spain uses no rice at all and is a different texture entirely.
• Some fritanga stalls add chopped mint, which cuts the richness noticeably.

History

The Antioquian morcilla, filled with rice rather than onion; sold from fritanga stalls beside chicharron and potato.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rellena?

Rellena is a charcuterie & cured from Colombia: blood sausage packed with rice, peas and herbs, fried in thick slices. The Antioquian morcilla, filled with rice rather than onion; sold from fritanga stalls beside chicharron and potato.

How long does Rellena take to make?

Rellena takes 50 min of preparation and 1 hour 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes 10 sausages. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Rellena?

Yes, within limits. Cooked barley or bulgur in place of some of the rice. Broad beans for the peas, which is done in parts of Antioquia.

What is the most important thing to get right in Rellena?

Bring the water to 80°C (176°F) — barely a bubble — and poach the sausages for 45 minutes to an hour, until a skewer comes out clean. A boil bursts them without exception.