Pisto Con Huevos – A Rustic Spanish Classic

Pisto con huevos is a Spanish version of ratatouille (pisto) topped with an egg then baked in the oven, in my version anyway. Alternatively you can top it with a fried egg or mix the eggs into the pisto like scrambled.

This popular rustic dish is often referred to as Pisto Manchego because it was first developed in central La Mancha. Manchego means “from La Mancha”. You may not know that the true Manchego cheese is made only from whole milk of the Manchega sheep raised in the “La Mancha” region.  Hard cured sheep’s milk cheeses from other regions are called Queso de Oveja Curado.

Similar to the Provencal ratatouille, it’s a mixture of tomatoes, onions, green and red peppers, aubergines, courgettes and olive oil. I decided to make this dish because these are the vegetables I see growing while walking the dog at the moment.

In fact I see a lot of them rotting on the ground, such a shame. It’s definitely the time of year to make a big pot of pisto.

I added chilli to mine (not authentic) but it really enhances all the other flavours turning a basic dish into something really special, perfect for this time of year when all these vegetables are at their peak.

I served it with a Zucchini Green Chilli Cornbread which was great for dunking into the delicious pisto and soft egg yolk.

I will be posting the cornbread recipe tomorrow. It was my first ever try at making or eating cornbread and I was really pleased with it. It’s a lot lighter than a thought it would be.

Pisto Con Huevos Recipe

serves 2-3, vegetarian, gluten-free

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large red onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finley chopped
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 medium aubergine, 1 cm diced
• 1 medium courgette, 1 cm diced
• 1 large red pepper,deseeded 1 cm diced
• 3 or 4 small green peppers, (see picture above) deseeded 1 cm diced
• 3 -5 plum tomatoes (depending on size), chopped
• salt & black pepper
•  a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves removed from stem
• 1 tsp paprika
• 3 tbsp tomate frito (tomato passata/puree)
• a handful of fresh parsley, chopped plus extra for garnish
• 1 large egg per person
• finely grated manchego (or other hard cured cheese), for garnish

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat then add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook for 4-5 minutes until softened then add the garlic and chilli and cook for another 2 minutes.

Throw in all of the diced vegetables, season well with salt and black pepper and add in the thyme leaves, paprika and tomate frito/passata/puree. Stir everything together well and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally until all the vegetables are cooked and fairly soft, about 20-25 minutes.

Stir through the chopped parsley and taste for seasoning, add more salt if necesssary. You can keep it now until you are ready to serve.

To serve, preheat oven to 190 C. Divide the pisto between 2 or 3 ovenproof serving dishes, spread it out in an even layer and make a little dip in the centre for the egg. Crack the egg into the dip and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the white of the egg is just set but the yolk is still runny.

Remove from the oven, season the egg with a little salt, pepper & paprika then sprinkle over the fresh parsley and grated cheese.

Serve with good bread for dipping in the pisto and egg yolk.

 Buen Provecho!!