Andorran Escudella

This recipe is from week seven of my food blog, "Travel by Stove." I am attempting to cook one meal from every country on Earth, and Andorra is my seventh stop. This one-pot dish is called "The National Dish of Andorra." it's very rich and fatty, so serve it with a lot of bread.

• Ready In: 3 hrs
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2  cups dry white beans (I used a 16 oz package of the small white ones)
• 1  ham bone
• 1  marrow, bone
• 3  chicken thighs (the recipe called for 1/4 of a chicken, but boneless-skinless is so much easier)
• 14  ounces  raw pork sausage, rolled into balls
• 1  thick ham steak, cut into chunks
• 1⁄2 head green cabbage
• 1  large white potato, cut into large chunks
• 1⁄4 cup  uncooked rice
• 1  cup pasta shells
• 1  cup  canned garbanzo beans
•  salt and pepper

Directions

1. Rol the raw sausage into one- or two-bite sized balls.
2. Rinse the dry beans in cold water.
3. Meanwhile, cook the sausage balls over medium heat.
4. Dice the ham.
5. Put the beans, sausage, ham, chicken and bones into the pot with 8 cups of water.
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer, covered for two hours. The chicken should be very tender, almost falling apart.
7. Remove the bones and bring the remaining stock and meat back up to a boil (if there isn't a lot of liquid you can add more water).
8. Add the cabbage, potato, rice, pasta shells, garbanzo beans and salt and pepper.
9. Cook for another 30 minutes, or until the potatoes and rice are tender.