Pierino Picks a Peck of Piperade Pintxos…

Ingredients

• 6
  
  anaheim chilis*
  
• 1
  
  red bell pepper
  
• 1
  
  sweet onion (vidalia, walla walla etc.)
  
• 
  
  5 cloves garlic
  
• 
  
  3 fat tomatoes (in season please)
  
• 
  
  ¼ teaspoon pimenton aka Spanish paprika (pimenton de la vera or piment d’esplette are preferred)
  
• 
  
  Salt and pepper
  
• 
  
  Spanish olive oil or California oil in the Spanish style
  
• 
  
  2 eggs
  
• 
  
  1 tablespoon white vinegar
  

Directions

1. The ideal cooking and presentation vehicles for this would be earthenware cazuelas but you can use a deep, flat pan that you can cover
2. Over a gas burner or on an outside grill roast the peppers until blackened. Place them in a paper bag and fold up the top to seal. Allow them to yield some steam for about fifteen or twenty minutes and then rub off the blackenend skin
3. Stem, seed and thinly julienne the peppers
4. Chop the tomato and crush the garlic
5. In your pan or cazuela slowly heat up the oil short of the smoke point
6. Add the garlic to the pan and allow it to color, follow that with the onions and then the peppers and tomato
7. Season with pimenton, salt and pepper, reduce heat simmer slowly, covered for about 30 minutes
8. About half way into the finishing stage for the piperade bring a pot of water to a boil, and add the vinegar
9. Uncover the piperade and torque up the heat to sizzling
10. Break and poach the eggs. I like a three minute egg that’s still runny. Portion your piperade and top with an egg and allow your guest to let that gooey goodness run all over it
11. *Note to cook: when available, usually in August, by all means substitute Hatch chilis for the Anaheims if you can find them. The Hatch peppers can vary widely in heat level and there really is no way to know from color or anything.