Pisto Riojano

Spanish -style Mixed Fried Vegetables

Across Spain, there are lots of different ways of cooking pisto, a warming and tasty traditional vegetable stew that’s pretty similar to French ratatouille.

This version is typical of La Rioja in north-eat Spain, famous for its robust and fine red wine. They add eggs to their version which are scrambled into the mixture, alternatively, you can poach them.

Why not have a go. This once was prepared from vegetables to hand in the fridge, with a cheeky substitution of aubergine for the peppers. It may not be fully to spec, but dishes such as these are all about versatility…

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 ripe tomatoes medium

2 green peppers medium (we were our of peppers so substituted aubergine here!)

1 red onion

1 courgette medium

1 potato

50ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 tsp sugar

2 eggs

Method

Peel and seed the tomatoes and chop the flesh into 1cm cubes along with the peppers, onion, courgette and potato.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the salt, then the cubed onions, garlic and peppers. Cover, reduce the heat to low and sweat for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, parboil the diced potatoes for about 7 minutes in boiling water and set aside.

Once the onions and pepper are soft, add the chopped potatoes to the pan, increase the heat to medium and fry for another 10 minutes.

Beat the eggs and add them to the hot stew, stirring until they scramble and set with the vegetables.

Enjoy with a glass of Rioja and some crusty bread.

Easy, peasy Pisto!