Pisto manchego

Summer vegetables are the queens of the supermarket at the moment, check out the prices, they are the cheapest you'll see for the whole year. In fact, if you have a veggie garden here in Orange NSW, you'll have realised that your tomatoes, zucchinis, and capsicums are ready to pick. 

That is why I always recommend you to buy and cook products that are in season and local. Not just because the flavours will be the best, but because it will be more economical for the family.

Today's recipe is perhaps the most important recipe in my family: 'pisto manchego'. A Spanish version of the French ratatouille, based on the traditional gastronomy and zero-waste food approach that I always talk about.

My grandmother, Emilia, taught me how to make this really easy and super versatile veggie stew that you'll be able to use as a side dish, on toast with some eggs, in pastas, on pizzas as a topping, etc... you name it! 

It is basically a vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free recipe that will WOW your family either cold or hot. The options are endless with this recipe, but today I'm going to share with you the easiest version of all. And it’s made using just two ingredients that are in season right now: tomatoes and capsicums.

If you google it, you'll see dozens of very similar recipes around Spain and in other Mediterranean countries. In Catalonia, they called it 'samfaina', in Mallorca 'tombet'. All of them vary, adding eggplant or zucchini to it, but at the end of the day you'll see that it's absolutely the same concept. A vegetarian stew full of an excess of local veggies!

In La Mancha, where my family is from, I remember a time when one of my relatives came with bags and bags of tomatoes and capsicums from the farm. That was the moment to get creative in order to avoid any waste: some capsicums were hung to be sundried, some tomatoes were blended and put it in the freezer for future elaborations, of course we spent days eating delicious rustic tomato salads for lunch or dinner,  and then, the hero of my family recipes: 'Pisto'.

It didn't matter when you arrived at my grandmother's kitchen, there was always a jar of this delicious stew in the fridge. I’d cut a bit of rustic bread, add a piece of manchego cheese with a few spoons of pisto and at that moment I’d know I was eating at the best place in the world, my grandma's! 

This was the first recipe I learnt from her and I really hope you guys use it for all your excess tomatoes. Good luck!

My grandmother's pisto:

Ingredients:

- 1 kg capsicums, cut into strips and without seeds.

- 2 kg of tomatoes: 1 kg crushed and the other one into cubes.

- 125 ml of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

- 2 tablespoons of salt

- 2 tablespoons of sugar

- Black pepper (optional)

Method:

1. Wash and clean the capsicums, cut them into thin rings and remove the seeds.

2. Wash the tomatoes. Cut one kilogram into cubes. And with the help of a hand blender, crush the other kilogram until you get a sauce.

3. In a deep pot, heat the oil. When it is hot, add the peppers and fry over low heat, turning them with a wooden spoon so that they do not stick.

4. Add the tomatoes and bring them to a boil. Lower the heat, simmer and begin to reduce.

5. Season with salt, sugar and pepper (optional)

6. Reduce to desired consistency.

7. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking

8. Empty into a bowl or container and put in the fridge to let it cool down.

9. When completely cold, cover it and leave in the fridge.

Note: Use it in the following two or three days. Serve it cold with a couple of olive oil-fried eggs and a piece of bread. If you make a big batch, divide into containers and freeze it. 

Enjoy!