Piperrada Recipes

PIPERRADA

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler or a grill pan. Broil the bread on a baking sheet until lightly golden brown on both sides or grill the bread until lightly golden brown on both sides. Remove the bread and rub one side of each half slice with the garlic and brush with some of the olive oil.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick saute pan over high heat. Add the ham, a few slices at a time and cook until the edges just begin to crisp, turning once. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels.
• Heat a few tablespoons of the oil in the same saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the peppers and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the sherry vinegar and let reduce to a few tablespoons, add the thyme and season with salt and pepper. Remove to a small bowl.
• Wipe out the pan with paper towels, return to medium heat and add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season the eggs with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Slowly cook, stirring until soft curds form. Remove from the heat and fold in the parsley. Place 2 slices of the ham on each slice of bread. Top with some of the eggs and then some of the pepper mixture. Serve on a large platter.

LAMB SKEWERS A LA PLANCHA WITH PIPERRADA

Steps:

• Place the lamb pieces on the bamboo skewers (3 to 4 pieces per skewer) and place in a large baking pan. Coat lamb skewers with marinade and cover. Refrigerate marinated skewers overnight.
• Heat a plancha or griddle pan over high heat. Season the skewers with kosher salt. Sear each lamb skewers, about 1 minute per side. Serve on a large platter over the Piperrada.
• Marinade:
• Combine shallot, guindilla pepper, thyme, chives, rosemary, cumin, fennel seed, mustard seed, saffron, and paprika together in a medium bowl. Add the lemon juice and slowly add olive oil while whisking thoroughly.
• Heat a plancha or pancake griddle pan over medium-high heat and carefully blacken the red peppers on all sides. Once sufficiently charred, remove, wrap in the newspaper and set aside to cool. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, carefully pull out the seeds and peel away the charred skin. Slice the peeled red pepper into thin strips and add to a medium bowl with garlic and whole thyme sprigs. Add olive oil, toss together, and marinate for at least 20 minutes, or up to 1 day ahead.

PIPERADE

Steps:

• Cut a small X into bottom of each tomato. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add tomatoes and cook until skin begins to wrinkle and peel at the edges of the cuts, about 30 seconds. Drain, rinse with cool water and peel off skin with your fingers. Roughly chop tomatoes and set aside.
• In a 12-inch skillet over medium high heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add onions, peppers and salt and sauté, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and peppers have started to lighten in spots, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and continue to sauté for 1 more minute.
• Stir in tomatoes, sugar and piment d'Espelette, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook until tomatoes are starting to fall apart and peppers are soft but still hold their shape, about 15 minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens like a slightly runny relish, about 5 minutes more. Adjust salt.

PIPERRADA

Steps:

• 1. Add enough water (about 3 to 4 inches) to a saucepan to cover the tomatoes completely. Bring water to a brisk boil.
• 2. Cut about 1/4 inch off the bottom end of each tomato so they'll stand upright without tipping over. Add tomatoes to boiling water and leave for 30 seconds or until the skins begin to wrinkle and peel near the bottom edge (where they were sliced). Place tomatoes in a small colander and rinse with cool running water. Peel off skin with your fingers, and roughly chop each tomato. Set chopped tomatoes aside.
• 3. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the onions, peppers and salt, and sauté about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, or until peppers are soft. Add garlic and sauté 1 more minute.
• 4. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in tomatoes, sugar, and piment d'Espelette (or hot paprika), cover skillet and simmer about 15 minutes. Remove cover and continue to sauté for 5 more minutes or until the sauce is slightly thickened and the consistency of a salsa or condiment relish.
• 5. Cut the baguette into thin slices, and arrange slices on a serving platter.
• 6. Just before serving, garnish the Piperrada with chopped parsley, and serve with baguette slices.

PIPERADE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Sauté the onion, peppers, garlic, salt, paprika, black pepper, and sugar, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked through.
• Add the tomatoes to the cooked vegetables and simmer the mixture, uncovered, for 15 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce has thickened.

PIPERADE

Steps:

• Preheat broiler with the rack in the upper position. Cut off tops and bottoms of peppers; discard. Slice side of each pepper to open, and spread to flatten. Remove and discard ribs and seeds. Brush 1 tablespoon oil on a baking sheet. Rub peppers with oil, and flatten as much as possible. Place on sheet, skin side up. Broil until skins have blackened, about 8 minutes. Let cool. Hold peppers under running water to remove charred skins, and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick strips (about 2 cups). Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
• Prepare an ice-water bath. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add tomatoes, and cook until skins loosen, about 1 1/2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to ice-water bath until cool enough to handle, about 1 minute. Peel tomatoes, and cut into quarters. Run a knife along flesh to remove seeds; discard seeds. Cut tomatoes lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick strips.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in small ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook for 2 minutes; cover, and transfer pot to oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Brush down sides of pot with a wet pastry brush to prevent caramelized bits from burning. Add roasted pepper strips, cover, and bake for 20 minutes more. Brush down sides of pot again. Add thyme and tomato strips, and continue baking, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Brush down sides of pot again. Season with salt and pepper. Vegetables should be soft but not browned. Serve warm or at room temperature.

PIPERADE ON CRUSTY BREAD

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large pan and slowly cook the onion for 6-8 mins to soften.
• Meanwhile, peel the tomatoes: using a sharp knife, make a cross on the top and bottom of the tomatoes. Pour boiling water into a bowl, and carefully lower the tomatoes into the water. Prepare another bowl of very cold water. After about 30 secs, drain the tomatoes, then plunge them into the cold water. The skins should now slip off easily. Cut into quarters, deseed and roughly chop.
• Throw the peppers and garlic into the onion pan, give everything a good stir and cook, covered, over a low heat for 20 mins or so until the vegetables are really soft and sweet. Stir regularly so that they don't catch on the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes, a pinch of sugar and cook, uncovered, for 5 mins more. Season and stir in the vinegar and the basil. Allow to cool to room temperature, stir through the basil and taste to check the flavours again. You may want to add a dash more vinegar, or a pinch more sugar, depending on how sweet your vegetables are. Spoon onto the baguette slices and serve.