Pisto de verduras

by Irene Solino, WA

Pisto is the Spanish version of the Ratatouille. It is a dish of stewed fresh vegetables. The key is good quality olive oil and fresh, seasonal vegetables. Pisto is originally from the Murcia region of Spain but can be found in the rest of the country with different adaptations. It’s a fantastic vegetable dish for those following a Paleo/Whole30/gluten-free or vegetarian/vegan diets. It is a simple dish but beautifully rich and colourful and full of flavour.

Preparation

20'

Cooking

1h 30'

People

4

Difficulty

Elaboration method

1# Preparation

Diced all the vegetables in separated containers.

2# Tomato sauce

We always cook our meals with homemade tomato relish, it is more work but ultimately worth it. If you don’t have time you can use any tomato sauce you like. My preference is for a more rustic juicy sauce, so I use a food mill, and don’t peel, take the seeds or use a blender. But if you have a favourite recipe for your tomato sauce, just use it and skip this first step.

Diced the tomatoes. Put in a medium pot 4 tablespoons of Extra virgin olive oil. Add the tomatoes. Bring to a lively bubble, uncovered, and cook 40 minutes (now on a medium heat), or until the sauce is thick and reduced by half. Stir often, watching for sticking. Remove the pan from the heat and put the salt adjusting to your preference. Use a food mill with the tomato sauce.

3# Sauté

Some pisto recipe cooks each vegetable separately, but if you don’t have time, just do it as a one pan meal adding the ingredients in different moments.

Put a frying pan on a medium heat and add a good splash of oil. Add the garlic. Sauté until starting to “dance”. Add the onion and sauté until they start to turn transparent.  Add the peppers and cook over medium heat for 12-14 minutes, until well softened. Add the zucchini and cook 4 minutes. Add the tomate relish and cook together for 30 minutes, covered with a lid. Stir a few times and adjust salt if need it.

 

Delicious all by itself but you can add a stack of toasted sourdough for dunking, fried or poached egg.