Pisto Manchego is the Spanish equivalent of ratatouille. It is basically a dish of stewed vegetables, based on peppers and tomatoes and often including garlic, onions and courgette. The quantities of each ingredient can be altered to suit your taste and you could add other vegetables but as previously mentioned it should have plenty of tomatoes and peppers.
Pisto can be served as an accompaniment to meat or fish dishes or more typically in Spain as a stand alone dish topped with a fried egg and some crusty bread.
Ingredients
Serves 2 – 4 people
- 2 medium green peppers, diced
- 1 medium red pepper, diced
- 1kg ripe, red tomatoes peeled and diced
- 1 large or 2 medium onion, diced
- 1 large or 2 medium courgettes, diced
- 3 or 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
- ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)
- 4 eggs
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Cooking Method
Put about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a wok or large frying pan on a medium heat, add the onion and garlic and gently fry for a few minutes. Add the peppers and a little salt and fry gently for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile peel and chop the tomatoes. To do this place them in boiling water for about 30 seconds then into cold water and then when you remove them the skins should come off easily.
Now add the courgette and continue to fry gently for a few minutes. Finally add the tomatoes, a little more salt, black pepper, sugar, cumin and stir well. Cook on a low to medium heat for about 20 or 30 minutes stirring occasionally until the water from the tomatoes has evaporated. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary
In a separate frying pan fry the eggs.
Serve the pisto manchego with a fried egg on top and some crusty bread.