Hello dear Brides,

This is Mira from Spain and I wanted to share with you one of my favorite-all-time dishes, not only because it´s healthy and I love vegetables, but because it reminds me of my mom and childhood and brings sweet family memories, the ones I know my Beloved wants me to focus on  . When I think of “Pisto” I see how blessed I have been and cannot avoid being grateful to my Heavenly Father for all those undeserved gifts He has given me throughout my life.

So let´s get to it, although the recipe seems long, it is a super easy-peasy dish to prepare:

“Manchegan pisto” or what is more internationally known as “ratatouille” is a dish of humble origins and very popular in one of Spain´s regions, La Mancha, in southern-Castilla. This used to be what farm workers used to feed themselves by making the most of seasonal vegetables. This is why there is no single recipe for ratatouille in Spain: it also has regional variations (La Rioja, Murcia, Catalonia…).

For as long as I can remember, pisto manchego has been made this way in my family, with garlic, onion, green and red pepper, courgette and tomato.

However, there are many variations and they all revolve around the same base of tomato and green pepper. The other ingredients are added, which makes this recipe one of the most versatile in Spanish gastronomy.

Ingredients  (serves 4):

• 2 Garlic cloves
• 250 gr Onion
• 200 gr Green pepper
• 200 gr Red pepper
• Alternative 1: 4 Tomatos
• 300 gr Courgette
• Salt
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Alternative 2: 200ml of prepared tomato sauce with olive oil and no extra spices added.

How to prepare Manchegan Pisto:

Alternative 1: Home-made tomato sauce base:

1. Heat water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Remove the skin of the tomatoes and make a cross-cut at the base.
3. Place the tomatoes in the boiling water for about 15-20 seconds, take them out and place them in a bowl of ice water. This will make the skin so easy for you to peel and then crush them with a large fork to make a tomato paste. (This is a great way to start your own tomato sauces as well, for those who like everything to be homemade).

Alternative 2: Canned ready-to-eat tomato sauce or canned natural tomato paste:

Use a natural and good quality tomato sauce, if available made with extra virgin olive oil. These are very easy to find in Spain, but obviously, feel free to use the tomato sauce that is available in your store. I strongly advise that you use a PLAIN tomato sauce, with no spices added because it will ruin the flavor of the dish. Do not use Italian pasta tomato sauce! You can also buy canned natural tomato paste to save time by not needing to peel and crush the tomatoes.

1. Peel the garlic cloves and onion and finely chop them. Wash the rest of the vegetables well and cut them into small square pieces of equal size. Set them aside separately from each other as we will be adding them to the frying-pan in different stages.
2. Heat a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan dish and stir-fry the chopped garlic and onion for 15 minutes over low heat so that they get to a light brownish color and soften. Add the chopped pepper and stir-fry for a further 15 minutes.
3. Finally, add the courgette and crushed tomato, season to taste (with salt only if you want to keep it as close to the original recipe, but if you like black pepper go ahead!), and keep stir-frying with low heat for another half an hour (until the pepper and the courgettes are soft, depending on how you like your veggies). You can cover it from time to time with a lid, to speed up and make the vegetables smoother faster.
4. Once the veggies are soft enough, turn up the heat a little and cook for a further 15 minutes or until the tomato water has evaporated if you are using natural tomatoes for the sauce. We want it to be juicy, but without the remains of the water released by the vegetables, with all the ingredients well amalgamated. If you are using ready-to-eat tomato sauce, then add it only at the very end -not with the courgettes- and turn up the heat a bit to make it merge with the vegetables and heat up altogether. Once consistency and homogeneous heat is achieved, serve immediately.

Traditionally, pisto manchego is served with fried eggs and bread, with lots of bread to go with it, making it an excellent main course. However, it can also be served as a garnish for meat and fish.

My mom used to serve it with fried eggs and diced fried potatoes, which she would fry in a separate frying pan and serve separately on the table. Only mix the fried potatoes with the Pisto you are going to eat.

The Pisto can be stored and heated up later if you want to save it for another meal-time, but the fried potatoes and the eggs have to be made just at the time of the meal, and potatoes can only be mixed at the table, otherwise, they become leathery in texture.

So, I hope it´s not too complicated and that you enjoy it!