THE PASTEL CONUNDRUM

Is pastel a cake or a pie, a tart or, simply, “pastry”? This spinach pie—or is it a tart?—is called “pastel.” I was reminded of pastel de espinacas a couple weeks ago when I made a Sephardic dish, called mina, for a vegetarian Passover meal. It consists of spinach with egg-cheese custard layered with matzo. That recipe is Turkish-Sephardic, but it probably came originally from Spain. So I went searching for the Spanish original that doesn’t require matzo to make.

“Pastel” is usually a custardy mixture, often with vegetables, baked in a crust, open-faced, like a tart, or completely encased. But it can also be baked with no crust in a loaf pan, thus, more of a terrine (also called cuajado). Versatile and delicious, the pastel can be served either hot or cold. Add a grain salad for a vegetarian lunch. Pair it with smoked salmon for brunch. Pack the pastel on a picnic. 

 

This spinach tart has a flaky pastry crust, a cheesy-spinach layer, a custard layer and cheese-crumb topping.

Serve the tart with a grain salad for a vegetarian lunch.

Or, pair the tart with smoked salmon for brunch.

Spinach Tart

Pastel de Espinacas

The spinach tart is vegetarian, but it can be embellished with diced bacon or ham, if desired. 

You could use store-bought prepared pie dough. I made a simple pasta quebrada, flaky pastry crust with olive oil. Bake the open-faced tart in a round, square or rectangular pan. 

 Any soft or crumbly cheese, such as well-drained cottage cheese, ricotta or crumbled feta cheese, is suitable for the tart. I used queso fresco de cabra, a soft, fresh white goat’s milk cheese. Part of the cheese-egg-milk mixture gets mixed with the spinach; the rest goes on top of the spinach to form a custard.

I used two bags of fresh spinach, weighing about 1 ¼ pounds. Once cooked and drained, the spinach weighed 12 ounces, making about 1 ¾ cups. Frozen spinach can be substituted for fresh. After thawing, be sure to squeeze out as much moisture as possible.

For the olive oil crust (pasta quebrada) :

1 ¼ cups flour + additional for rolling out dough

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 egg, separated 

3 tablespoons olive oil + additional for the tart pan

4-5 tablespoons water

Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Place the egg yolk in a small bowl. (Reserve the egg white to add to the spinach pie batter.) Whisk the oil and 4 tablespoons of water with the yolk.

Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yolk-oil-water mixture. Gradually stir the flour into the liquid ingredients to make a soft dough. Add additional water if necessary. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured board and gently knead just to combine the ingredients well. Gather the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl. Cover with a clean cloth. Leave at room temperature to rest at least 1 hour. (The dough can be prepared a day in advance, wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated. Bring it to room temperature before rolling out.) 

Line baking pan with dough.

When ready to bake the tart, roll the dough out on a lightly floured board into a rectangle. Fold it in thirds and roll it out again. Repeat, folding and rolling two more times. 

Oil a (9X12-inch) baking pan. Roll the dough into a rectangle to fit the baking pan. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and lift it onto the baking pan. Line the bottom and part way up the sides of the pan with the dough. 

Soft goat's cheese with spinach for the filling.

For the spinach tart:

1 ¼ pounds fresh spinach

3 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 leeks and/or spring onions, chopped (2 cups)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 ounce diced bacon (optional)

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of ground cloves

4 eggs (or 3 eggs + 1 reserved egg white)

16 ounces queso fresco or equivalent cheese

1 cup evaporated milk

Grated nutmeg

Tart pan lined with pastry dough (recipe above)

2 ounces grated cheese (1 cup)

1 ounce fine dry bread crumbs (¼ cup)

1 teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)

Cook, drain and chop the spinach.

Wash the spinach if necessary. Place in a pot with a little water. Cover and cook until the leaves are wilted. Drain well. When cool, pick up handfuls of the spinach and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Place the cooked spinach on a cutting board and chop it coarsely.  

Heat the oil in a skillet on moderate heat. Add the chopped leeks or onions, garlic and bacon, if using. Sauté until leeks are softened, but not browned, 10 minutes. Add the chopped spinach to the skillet. Season with ½ teaspoon salt, pepper and cloves. Remove from heat and let cool.

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Combine the eggs, cheese and evaporated milk in a deep mixing bowl. Use an immersion blender to beat the ingredients until smooth. Season with salt (½ teaspoon or to taste—depending on how salty the cheese is) and nutmeg. 

Spread spinach on crust.

Mix 1 ½ cups of the egg-cheese-milk mixture into the spinach. Spread the spinach evenly in the dough-lined pan. Pour the remaining egg-cheese-milk mixture evenly on top of the spinach.

In a small bowl, combine the grated cheese, bread crumbs and pimentón. Sprinkle the cheese-crumb mixture on top of the tart.

Bake 10 minutes. Lower temperature to 375ºF. Bake until a skewer comes out clean, 25 minutes more. Let the tart rest 10 minutes before slicing. Serve it hot, warm, room temperature or chilled.

Grain salad to accompany the spinach tart.

The grain salad served with the spinach tart is made with wheat berries, a product called trigo tierno that only needs 10 minutes cooking time. Farro or barley would be a good substitute. The grains are mixed with chopped radishes, scallions, celery, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and pistachios. The dressing is extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and chopped mint plus salt and pepper.

This is a slice of mina, the spinach-cheese-matzo Passover pie that I made a couple weeks ago. Obviously related to pastel! 

More versions of pastel, tart, terrine, pie and timbale:

Fish Terrine (Pastel).

Vegetable Terrine (Pastel).

Eggplant Terrine (Pastel).

Spinach Timbale (Pastel).

Zucchini Timbale (Cuajado).

Smoked Trout Timbale (Pastel).

Eggplant Timbale (Cuajado).

Zucchini Flan (Almodrote).

Chard and Cheese Pie (Torta).

FOOD FOR A CARNAL HOLIDAY

 Easter Sunday signals the joyous end of the Lenten season of penitence and, for the religiously observant. abstinence from meat (carne) and carnal pleasure. In many places in Spain, it’s customary to eat hornazo, a bread roll containing a whole egg, symbol of new life, on Easter Monday. But in Salamanca (Castilla-León in north-central Spain), the hornazo is not a simple roll, but an elaborate empanada filled with pork loin, chorizo sausage and ham as well as egg. 

The occasion for this is Lunes de Aguas, eight days after Easter (April 25 this year), signalling the end of abstinence. Families and friends take to the countryside and riverside to picnic, carrying along the meat-filled hornazo and plenty of wine.

The holiday tradition dates from a 16th century edict promulgated by Felipe II. Salamanca, a university town, then had a population of thousands of students and their attendant servants, stable boys, tavern keeps. To enforce the Lenten strictures, the strait-laced king decreed that all prostitutes were to be banished from the town during Lent. Ferried across the river, they were not allowed to return until eight days after Domingo de Resurrección, Easter Sunday. Their return was an excuse for a party, as revellers went out to greet them on the banks of the river.

Hornazo de Salamanca, an empanada filled with pork loin, chorizo, ham and egg, is traditional for post-Easter picnics.

The latticed crust distinguishes the hornazo from other empanadas.

Juicy chorizo and salty ham add flavor to the bread casing.

Cooked eggs are part of the filling. 

Empanada with Pork Loin, Chorizo and Ham

Hornazo con Lomo, Chorizo y Jamón, Estilo Salamanca

The Salamanca hornazo—good any time of the year!—is typically made with bread dough enriched with lard. It can be hojaldrada, or layered, like puff pastry. A latticed top crust distinguishes it from other empanadas. It’s made by cutting slits in rolled-out dough that is then placed over the top crust. A special roller (see rodillo de celosía on amazon.es) will accomplish the slitting, but it is easily done by hand.

The sliced pork loin is first marinated in adobo for at least an hour or up to eight hours. The chorizo should be salamantino. I didn’t find chorizo from Salamanca but used a similar one from León. Use either serrano or ibérico ham, both famous in Salamanca. If they are unavailable, I’m thinking thinly sliced cooked ham would work too. The salt and the fat from the cured ham and sausage flavor the bread. 

Eggs are optional in the Salamanca hornazo. If using them, peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut them in half.

(I have adapted this recipe from one by Miriam García posted in El Comidista. )

For the empanada dough:

4 cups bread flour + additional for rolling dough

1 envelope instant dry yeast

½ teaspoon sugar

2 ounces lard

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons salt

7 tablespoons warm water

For the filling:

1 pound boneless pork loin

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika)

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon olive oil

6 ounces chorizo

3 ounces thinly sliced serrano ham

3 hard-boiled eggs (optional)

1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water

Prepare the dough. Place the flour in a large bowl. Add the yeast and sugar and stir. Make a well in the center.

Melt the lard (30 seconds in the microwave). Place it in another bowl with the oil, lightly beaten egg and salt. Add the warm water and stir. Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour. Use a wooden spoon to begin mixing the flour into the liquid ingredients. When all the flour is mixed in, gather the dough into a ball and transfer to a board. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, 5 minutes. It shouldn’t be necessary to flour the board. 

Dough after rising.

Pat the dough into a smooth ball. Place in the bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Let rest in a warm, draft-free place until dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Prepare the filling. Slice the pork loin 3/8 inch thick. Place the slices, slightly overlapping, in a shallow dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, pimentón, oregano, parsley, garlic, vinegar and oil. Cover and allow to stand 1 hour (or refrigerate for up to 8 hours).

Slice the chorizo about 3/8 inch thick. Discard casing. Peel the eggs, if using, and cut them in half. 

Assemble and bake the empanada. 

When dough has doubled in size, punch it down and turn it out onto the board. Remove a piece of approximately one-fifth (1/5) of the whole. Set it aside to make the latticed top crust. Divide the remaining dough into two equal parts. 

Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Preheat oven to 425ºF.

On a lightly floured board, roll one piece of dough out into a rectangle. Trim the dough to approximately 10 X 12 inches. (Save the scraps.) Transfer the rolled-out dough to the baking sheet.

Marinated pork loin on rolled-out dough.

Cover the slab of dough with the sliced pork loin.

Place the sliced chorizo on top of the loin. If using the eggs, tuck the half-eggs in between the chorizo. Cover with the sliced ham.

Roll out the second piece of dough into a rectangle. Trim so that it is slightly larger than the first slab of dough with the filling. 

Roll it onto the rolling pin and unroll over the filling. 

Roll and pinch the edges of the top and bottom together to seal in the filling. Use a fork to prick the top crust all over. Brush with beaten egg.

Gather the scraps of dough and press them together with the fifth part of dough that was saved. On a lightly floured board (or on a sheet of parchment), roll out the dough longer than the covered empanada, but not as wide. 

Use the tip of a knife to make a line of short incisions lengthwise in the dough. Make a second line of cuts about 1 ½ inches from the first. Continue making linear incisions across the dough. 

Place the baking sheet with the empanada next to the rolled out and incised dough. Lift it onto the top of the empanada. Stretch the dough so that it fits across the width of the empanada. Stretching opens up the incisions, creating the latticed effect. Brush the lattice top with beaten egg.

Bake the empanada until it is golden-brown, 30-35 minutes. Cool it on a rack so that the bottom crust doesn’t become soggy. Serve warm or room temperature. Use a sharp knife or good serrated knife to cut the empanada into slices. 

The hornazo after baking. So important to seal the edges of the dough, so that juices from the filling doesn't leak out! (Not blood, but red chorizo fat has seeped out onto the parchment.)  

Another kind of hornazo: Easter Rolls with Egg.

More recipes for empanadas and picnic breads:

Empanada of Tuna.

Galician Empanada with Pork Loin.

Catalan Flatbread with Toppings (Coca).

ARTICHOKES—TO CELEBRATE SPRING HOLIDAYS

The sun peeps out from behind the clouds and, right on cue, the folks renting the house next door for Easter week are splashing in the pool. Me, I’m still wearing a warm sweater and wool socks. Indoors, the house takes a long time to warm up. 

Orange blossom.

But, it’s definitely springtime. Wildflowers are abloom and orange blossoms perfume the garden. It´s a week of spring holidays. Easter, Passover and Ramadan all are celebrated this week. 

A friend brought packs of matzo (unleavened bread for Passover) from the U.S. (thanks, Jesse), so we are having a mini-seder, all vegetarian. It seemed only appropriate to serve Sephardic foods, in honor of the Jewish communities of medieval Spain and of those who have returned to Spain.  

This recipe for artichoke-orange salad was given to me by a Sephardic acquaintance from North Africa whose family, a few centuries ago, was from Toledo. They resettled in Spain in the1980s. She told me the salad is served for Passover. 

Salads of vegetables with oranges are very typical in Spain and in Morocco. This one might also include spring fava beans and, in Turkey, green almonds. It can be prepared up to three days before serving. Serve it at room temperature, as a starter or side dish. 

Artichoke bottoms are cooked with citrus and olive oil, served room temperature with sliced oranges.

Mint leaves add a fresh flavor to the artichokes.

Serve the salad as a starter or side dish for a spring holiday meal.

Trimmed artichokes are tender enough to eat the whole piece. 

Artichoke and Orange Salad

Ensalada de Alcachofas con Naranjas

I’ve used medium-sized artichokes. Trimmed down to the bottoms, they are cut in half before cooking. If you’ve got really big artichokes, cut them in quarters. You need to remove all the exterior leaves and fibrous choke so that the whole piece of cooked artichoke is edible. 

If available, use sour (bitter) Sevilla orange juice instead of lemon to cook the artichokes. The acidic juice keeps the artichokes from darkening. Use ordinary sweet oranges to finish the salad. 

Serves 6.

2 lemons (or sour oranges)

10 medium artichokes (3 pounds)

2 oranges

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup + 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, slivered

1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar

Romaine leaves to serve

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint to garnish

Put the juice of ½ lemon (about 1 tablespoon) in a bowl and fill with water. Snap off 3 or 4 layers of the outer leaves from the artichokes. Cut them about a third of the way from the bottoms, discarding the upper leaves. Using a spoon or melon baller, scoop out and discard the fuzzy choke. Cut the bottoms in half. Place each artichoke bottom as prepared into the lemon water. If desired, the stems can be peeled and cooked with the artichoke bottoms

Pull off three or four layers of outer leaves. 

Use a spoon or melon ball tool to scoop out the fuzzy, fibrous choke in the center.

Place the artichokes in a saucepan just large enough to hold them. Peel and slice 1 lemon and 1 orange and tuck the slices in with the artichokes. Pour the juice of remaining half lemon over them. Cover with 6 cups of water. Add the salt, oil and slivered garlic.

Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered. Artichokes are done when an outer leaf pulls off easily, about 20 minutes. Let them cool in the liquid.

The artichokes can be refrigerated, covered, in their liquid up to 3 days. Bring them to room temperature to serve.

Before serving, drain the artichokes in a colander or use a slotted spoon to remove just a few. Discard the pieces of cooked orange and lemon. Arrange the artichokes on a bed of romaine leaves. Peel and slice the remaining orange and tuck the slices in with the artichokes. Stir together the 3 tablespoons of oil and vinegar. Spoon the dressing over the artichokes and oranges. Sprinkle with mint.

Artichoke salad served at the seder dinner.

Spring herbs for our seder table. I've gathered parsley, dill, wild fennel, celery, mint and cilantro.

Happy Easter. Happy Passover. Blessed Ramadan. Peace.

QUICKIE PEPITORIA FOR TURKEY BREAST

 In this time of rising food prices, I’m always on the lookout for bargains. One of my best value finds is packaged fresh turkey labeled “solomillo,” or “tenderloin, a cut from the breast. It’s cheap, quick to cook and tasty in all kinds of preparations—grilled kebabs, ragout with mushrooms, piccata with lemon and capers. Today I’m cooking it in a quickie pepitoria sauce.

Pepitoria is a classic in Spanish cooking. The traditional recipe calls for gallina, a stewing hen, that is first simmered, then cut up and sauced. The sauce, with obvious Moorish heritage, is made with ground almonds, saffron and other spices and the broth in which the chicken cooked. This is a quickie version using store-bought stock and fast-cooking chunks of turkey. 

Chunks of turkey cook in a saffron sauce thickened with almonds.

A springtime meal, turkey in sauce with fresh peas.

Turkey breast cooks quickly, stays juicy.

Turkey with Pepitoria Sauce

Pavo en Pepitoria

Fresh peas, a touch of spring.

One package of turkey “tenderloin” weighed in at 10 ounces, enough for two servings. If you’re making a larger quantity, just increase the other ingredients. If you use thigh meat instead of breast, allow for a little longer cooking.

Bread, almonds and mashed cooked egg yolk thicken the gravy. Add peas, fava beans or asparagus tips to the sauce for a touch of spring. The turkey and sauce are perfect served with steamed rice. 

Serves 2

10 ounces boneless turkey (thigh or breast)

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Flour for dusting the turkey

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, unpeeled

2 slices baguette

12 almonds

½ cup onion, finely chopped

Pinch of saffron threads

Peppercorns

1 clove

1/3 cup white wine

1 ½ cups chicken broth

1/3 cup fresh peas

1 hard boiled egg

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Cut the turkey into pieces. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper and dust with flour.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy skillet. Add the whole clove of garlic, the bread and the almonds. Fry them, turning, until bread is golden and toasted. Take care not to burn the almonds. Skim them out and reserve.

Add the pieces of turkey to the pan and brown them lightly on all sides. Remove.

Add the onion and sautée on moderate heat until softened, without browning the onions. 

Blend fried almonds, bread with spices and wine.

Meanwhile, crush the saffron, peppercorns and clove in a mortar. Peel the  clove of fried garlic  and place in a  blender with the bread, broken into pieces, the almonds and the crushed spices. Add the wine and let stand a few minutes to allow the bread to soften. Blend to make a smooth paste.

Blanch the peas in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain. (If small peas are used, add them to the sauce at the very end of cooking. If they are large and fairly starchy, let them cook with the turkey.)

Stir the paste from the blender into the pan with the onions. Cook, stirring, until the paste begins to thicken. Add the broth. Stir and cook the sauce 5 minutes. Return the pieces of turkey to the pan with the peas. Cover and cook until the turkey is cooked through, 10 minutes.

Peel the egg. Separate the yolk from the white. Mash the yolk with the parsley. Stir into the sauce in the pan.

Serve the turkey and sauce with the egg white grated on top.

More versions of pepitoria:

Chicken in Almond-Saffron Sauce (Pepitoria).

Meatballs in Almond Sauce.

Monkfish in Almond Sauce (Cazuela).

Wedding Stew with Chicken and Meatballs.

More recipes with turkey (none a whole, stuffed bird):

Turkey Roulade.

Andalusian Turkey Stew.

Turkey Breast with Sour Orange Marinade.

Turkey and Watermelon Salad.

Gazpachuelo Soup with Turkey Meatballs.

Microwave Turkey Breast.

SLIM PICKINGS AT THE GROCERY AND A TROUT RECIPE

 What a strange couple of weeks it was. At the hipermercado where I shop once a month for staples, preferred brands and heavy items, I found gaps on the shelves. There was none of my favorite laundry detergent. No 18-roll packs of house-brand toilet paper. Not even the kind of coffee and tea that I like. Most worrisome, there were no carrots.

On the evening news I realized why—a huelga de transportistas, a truckers’ strike. They were protesting, not vaccine requirements, but the high cost of diesel that fuels those big rigs that provision the big supermarket chains. And carry milk to the yogurt factory. And parts to the car manufacturers. 

By the following week, the situation was even more dire. My small local grocery had no fresh produce. Two bins of potatoes and a wall of empty shelves. The village market offered a reduced selection of fruits and vegetables. 

The fish stall at the market had a stunning spread of frozen seafood, all thawed and displayed as if fresh. Slabs of swordfish and diminutive sole, sliced hake and filleted anglerfish, shrimp and squid and octopus. The other fish shop was closed up tight. The fishing fleet was not on strike. The boats were staying in port because their fuel costs far exceeded what they would earn from their catch. 

By the first of April, the government had come through with a (complicated) plan for gas and diesel rebates and most of the truckers were on the road again. The fishing fleet went back to work this week. But, when I saw the price of fresh seafood, I looked for alternatives.

Trout big enough for stuffing.

Not seafood, but farmed fresh-water trout was my choice. I like small trout simply floured and pan-fried, Navarra style, with a few slices of serrano ham tucked in the cavity. The crisped skin is a delight. But my vendor had big trout—about 1 ¼ pounds each. A pair of these, perfect for stuffing, would be unwieldy for pan-frying. Roasting was the answer. Although the skin did not get as shatteringly crisp as I would have liked, the trout were delicious. 

Stuffed and roasted trout with a side of garlicky potatoes.

Finish the trout under the broiler to crisp the skin.

Ham gives saltiness, raisins contribute sweetness to the spinach stuffing with a few pine nuts for crunch.

Roasted Trout Stuffed with Spinach

Trucha Rellena al Horno

Have the fish opened up—butterflied—and spine removed. I chose to leave the remaining fiddly bones, the “ribs” and pin bones, as they are easier to extract once the fish is cooked. If desired, remove the skin before serving the trout.

The recipe makes enough stuffing for two good-sized trout or four small (8-ounce) ones. The hardest part of stuffing the trout was closing the stuffing in with toothpicks. I resorted to a knife to pierce the tough skin. Once roasted, be sure to remove the picks before serving the trout.

Ham, raisins, pine nuts, spinach.

Serves 4.

2 whole trout, each about 1 ¼ pounds, gutted and butterflied

Salt

Pepper

1 tablespoon seedless raisins

White wine (1 tbsp + 3 tbsp)

Olive oil (1 tbsp + 3 tbsp)

3 tablespoons serrano ham and/or bacon

1 tablespoon pine nuts

1 tablespoon chopped shallots

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups chopped fresh spinach (3 onces)

¼ cup fresh breadcrumbs

Thinly sliced serrano ham (about 1 ounce)

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Wash the trout well and pat them dry. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper.

Place the raisins in a small bowl and add 1 tablespoon wine. Let them plump.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet. Add the ham or bacon, pine nuts, shallots and 1 clove of the chopped garlic. Sauté until pine nuts begin to turn golden, 3 minutes. Add the spinach and sauté it for a minute. Add the raisins and the wine in which they soaked. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook until spinach is completely wilted and most of the liquid has cooked away. Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs. Let the spinach mixture cool.

Ham slices on trout.

Spread filling on trout.

Open the trout on a flat work surface. Lay sliced ham on the bottom half of the fish. Spread half of the spinach mixture on top. Cover with the top of the fish. Use toothpicks to close the opening. Repeat with the second trout.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. 

Spoon mixture of olive oil, garlic, parsley and wine over trout before roasting.

Lightly oil a roasting pan or sheet pan large enough to hold the trout. In a small bowl combine 3 tablespoons of the wine, 3 tablespoons of the oil, 1 of the chopped cloves of garlic and the chopped parsley.

Place the trout in the roasting pan. Spoon half of the wine-oil-garlic mixture over the fish. Place them in the top third of the oven. Roast for 10 minutes.

Spoon remaining wine-oil-garlic on the fish. Roast until fish is done, 10 minutes more. To test for doneness, probe the flesh with a skewer to see if it flakes easily. If desired to crisp the trout skin, turn the oven temperature up to “broil” and place the pan on a rack beneath the broiler. Broil until browned lightly, about 3 minutes.

Garlicky Potatoes

Patatas al Ajillo

The perfect accompaniment to the trout.

Serves 4.

1 pound potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced

Salt

Pepper

¼ cup white wine

Chopped parsley

Peel the potatoes and slice them crosswise 3/8-inch thick. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Add the potatoes and turn them in the oil until they are coated on all sides. Add the garlic. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper. Lower heat to moderate and cook the potatoes slowly, stirring frequently, until almost fork-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the wine and continue cooking until all the liquid has cooked away and potatoes begin to sizzle again, 4 to 5 minutes. Toss with parsley immediately before serving. 

More recipes with trout:

Trout Stuffed with Ham and Mushrooms.

Smoked Trout Timbale.

Grilled Trout with Yogurt Sauce.