Lilly Higgins: My coddle is a bit different to the Irish classic recipe, but it’s still a one-pot wonder

With St Patrick’s Day still in our minds, I just knew I had to delve deep into Irish tradition for a much-loved recipe to share today. Coming from Cork, I didn’t grow up eating coddle and only discovered it on a pub menu in Temple Bar when I was in my early twenties, alongside a group of eager tourists. It was as much a novelty to me as it was to them. Now I order it whenever I see it, just to compare notes.

Traditionally this stew was created with cheaper cuts of meat such as pig’s feet and ribs, alongside processed meat such as sausages and bacon. Often it was made at the end of the week with leftovers all stewed together in broth, namely water.

The sausages are usually plain pork and kept whole. I like to use thinner sausages, cut them into bite-size pieces or roll into meatballs like I have here. One of the first lessons I learned many years ago in Ballymaloe Cookery School was to make stock. Adding a chicken carcass to cold water and slowly heating it will extract the flavour, whereas plunging a chicken carcass into hot water will cause it to seize up. Therefore I can understand why raw sausages would be added to this and then brought to a simmer and cooked.

[ Real Irish food for St Patrick’s Day: Eight recipes to celebrate our national day ]

It was a way to extract as much taste as possible from the meat and flavour the water. While it really doesn’t look appetising, there was a good reason to do it that way in the past. Nowadays we have access to stock cubes, pots and cartons, which we can use to easily add flavour when needed. When I make this soup for my kids, I remove the skin from the sausages and roll them into meatballs, which makes it much easier to eat.

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Orzo bake with ‘nduja

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Turnip, while not very traditional, makes a delicious addition and is good with the bacon. Carrots and kale are also not the traditional ingredients, but at this time of year I always make at least one patriotic dish that has all of the colours of our flag in seasonal vegetables. It is more important than ever to support Irish farmers and producers, know where our food is sourced and think twice when spending our money.

Recipe: Coddle

Lilly’s kitchen tips

1. Waxy baby potatoes that hold their shape are better for this stew, or use a floury potato if you want it to be a thicker stew.
2. Whenever I cook with sausages I see it as an opportunity to impart more flavour in a dish, so a honey and mustard or black pepper and stout sausage would also be good to use here. We have amazing artisan sausage makers, so see what your local butcher or supermarket has.
3. Make this more like a Portuguese caldo verde by using a spicy chorizo-style sausage.