Kawlata (Maltese Vegetable and Pork Soup)
Ingredients
Meats
- 4 fresh whole Maltese sausages
- 4 shoulder-cut pork chops (ideally left attached in one piece and separated only after cooking)
- 1 piece (300 g) fresh pork belly, salt-cured gammon, or smoked bacon
Other ingredients
- 1 ham hock or a pig's trotter (not boned)
- Oil for frying the onion
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 1 whole medium cabbage, cut into medium chunks
- 2 large potatoes, cut into medium chunks
- 1–2 kohlrabi, cut into medium chunks
- 1 large slice of red-fleshed pumpkin (qargħa hamra; optional), cut into medium chunks
- 1 large slice of yellow-fleshed pumpkin (qargħa Torka; optional), cut into medium chunks
- ½ ea. medium cauliflower (optional), cut into medium chunks
- 3–4 carrots (optional), cut into medium chunks
- Chopped green celery leaves (Maltese krafes)
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1–2 tbsp tomato paste, diluted with a little water
- A few sprigs of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Steps
- Bring pot of water to rolling boil. Scald hock or trotter 10 min.
- Remove hock or trotter. Discard water, refill with fresh water, bring to boil.
- Add hock or trotter and other meats to boiling water. Reduce heat, cook a few minutes, skimming scum.
- When no more scum forms, remove meats. Reserve cooking water and meats.
- Soften and wilt onion in olive oil in pot over medium heat; do not brown.
- Add cabbage, potatoes, kohlrabi, pumpkin, cauliflower, carrots and celery leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and sweat on low heat 5–6 min.
- Add tomato paste and reserved meats.
- Add some of the reserved cooking water; quantity depends on one-dish stew or two-course meal. Simmer over moderately low heat until meats are tender.
- Five minutes before end, adjust seasoning. Add chopped flat leaf parsley.
Notes from the original
- If using salt-cured gammon, soak in cold water over night to remove the saltiness.
- Maltese sausages are made of ground lean and fat pork with garlic, parsley, salt, black peppercorns, and coriander seeds.
- It is not traditional to cook pasta in the soup, neither is it customary to grate cheese on top.
- If serving as a one course meal, you are aiming for a chunky stew, so you don't want to add too much liquid. Serve with crusty bread.
- If serving as a two course meal, you will want enough liquid to serve a soupy first course. The meats you remove, slice if necessary and keep warm to serve alone or maybe with a little light tomato sauce. You can cook a small amount of rice in the vegetable soup if you wish, though it is hardly necessary.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Kawlata (Maltese Vegetable and Pork Soup)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-21, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.






