A quick and easy-to-make yet delightful toast that blends two of my favourite Spanish delicatessens: piquillo peppers and chistorra.
Perhaps you are unfamiliar with the two main ingredients that form this recipe, simply because for a long time it has been quite tricky to find them outside Spain. However both the piquillo peppers and the chistorra are now increasingly available in specialized Spanish food stores as well as in many food delis.
What can I say about the piquillo peppers? In my opinion, these peppers from Lodosa (Navarra) are the best red peppers in the world by far, and also one of the most exquisite delicatessens Spain has to offer.
The chistorra or txistorra is a type of dry-cured meat original from Navarre, the Basque Country and Aragón. It is similar to chorizo although much thinner, less cured and with a higher percentage of animal fat, which gives it a very unique and delicious flavour.
The combination of both results in one of those dead-easy recipes which work extremely well due to the fact that the piquillos and the chistorra are two very complementary ingredients which create a great association of flavours and textures.
• Click here to buy Chistorra from Navarra.
• Click here to buy Piquillo Peppers from Lodosa, Navarra.
INGREDIENTS
- 100 g Piquillo Pepper
- 75 g Chistorra – cut into 1cm slices
- 2 tbsp Tomato – very finely chopped
- 0.5 tsp Fresh thyme – leaves only
- 0.25 tsp Fresh rosemary – leaves only
- 0.5 units Garlic clove – crushed
- 1 tsp Cider vinegar
- 0.5 tsp Sea salt flakes
- 0.25 tsp Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 slices Sourdough bread
METHOD
- Heat a frying pan over a high heat. Add one spoon of olive oil and cook the chistorra on both sides until slightly browned. Take off the heat and reserve.
- Pan fry the bread slices in the same pan for around 40-60 seconds on each side until they absorb a bit of the chistorra oil and get a bit golden. Be careful not to burn them. Reserve.
- Add the other spoon of olive oil to the pan and turn the heat down to medium. Crush the garlic clove and add it to the pan together with the thyme and the rosemary. Cook for one minute, then add the cider vinegar and cook for another minute.
- Add the piquillo peppers and cook for an extra minute before you add the chorizo to the pan. Cook for a final minute stirring carefully at all times to blend all the flavours.
- Place the toasts on a serving plate and spread the piquillo and chorizo mix over the bread. Season with salt, pepper and drizzle with a bit of the chopped parsley. Serve warm.
