FIESTA FINALE

 Pobre de mí! Poor me, the party has ended. That was the lament of thousands of Pamploneses (the inhabitants of Pamplona, Navarra) at midnight July 14 signaling the end of the Fiesta of San Fermín. Time to fold up the red bandanas until next year. 

You don’t have to run with the bulls or party until the wee hours to enjoy some of the gastronomic treats of the san fermines. This dish of ham (or pork) slices smothered in fresh tomato sauce is a summertime treat no matter where you are. Typically, the dish is eaten as a snack after the afternoon bullfights to fortify the body for a night’s partying. You could serve it for dinner anytime. 

Fried ham slices are smothered in tomato sauce.

Store-bought marinated pork loin instead of ham.

The magras (slices of ham or pork) are traditionally served with a fried egg and croutons. Fiesta fortification.

Ham with Tomato Sauce

Magras con Tomate

Magras means “lean meat”. As made in Navarra, this dish calls for ¼ -inch-thick slices of serrano ham. The ham, probably from nearby Teruel, should not be overly cured. If it is very cured, the slices are soaked in milk to remove excess salt and soften the meat. 

I adapted the recipe to use store-bought lomo adobado, pork loin that has been lightly cured with salt, garlic, and spices. I think Canadian bacon would be an excellent substitute for Navarra-style ham. Which ever you use, the meat needs only vuelta y vuelta, flip it once and out, less than a minute per side.  

The fresh tomato sauce can be made in advance, if desired. If tomatoes are plentiful, made double the recipe and keep for other uses. 

Fresh tomatoes for sauce.

Serves 4.

For the tomato sauce:

2 pounds ripe tomatoes

¼ cup olive oil

1 ½ cups chopped onion

3 cloves chopped garlic

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Lightly cured pork loin.

For the ham:

8 slices (¼ -inch thick)  Canadian bacon, ham, or lomo adobado (1 pound)

Olive oil

To finish the plate:

Olive oil for frying

6 cloves garlic, not peeled

4 eggs

Croutons of fried bread

Fried ham

Tomato sauce

Chopped parsley

Remove stems and cores from tomatoes and chop them roughly (makes 4 ½ -5 cups). Place in a blender or food processor and grind. Push the juice and pulp through a sieve. Discard the remaining solids, containing seeds and bits of skin. 

Make tomato sauce.

Heat the oil on medium in a large saucepan. Sauté the onion and garlic until softened, 10 minutes. If onion begins to brown, add a spoonful of water and continue frying. Add the tomato pulp and juice to the pan. Season with bay leaf, 1 tablespoon parsley, salt, and pepper. Cook on medium heat until the sauce is thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. If the sauce tends to splatter, partially cover the pan. 

Discard the bay leaf. Puree the sauce in a blender or food processor until very smooth. Store the sauce covered and refrigerated until ready to use. (Makes about 1 ¾ cups sieved sauce.) 

Lightly oil a heavy skillet and heat on medium-high. Fry the slices of bacon, ham, or lomo until lightly browned on both sides, 30-60 seconds per side. Remove. 

Add oil to the skillet to cover the bottom to a depth of ¼ inch. Heat on medium-high. Lightly crush the garlic cloves and add them to the skillet. Break the eggs into the skillet. Scatter croutons around the eggs. Fry until the whites are set but yolks still runny.

Place 2 slices of fried ham on each plate. Heat the tomato sauce. Spread sauce over the slices of ham and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Place a fried egg, fried garlic, and croutons alongside. Serve the plates.  

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Also this past week was the Fiesta de la Virgen de Carmen. This virgin is the patron saint of sailors and is celebrated in many coastal communities of Spain. It’s the occasion to dine on seafood stews. 

Upcoming festivities: Feria de Málaga, August 17-23. 

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An Andalusian version of Pork with Tomato Sauce (Magro con Tomate).

How to make croutons of fried bread.

Kalimotxo (the favored drink for San Fermín) and more fiesta drinks.

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FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain, will be published August 12, 2025! See Meatballs with Backstory for more about what’s in the book and to view several of the page spreads. See advance reviews at Advance Praise for Flavors of al-Andalus. 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)

$39.95 hardcover: Available in print and e-book in August 2025

 Pre-order on IndiePubs

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Pre-order on amazon

OH, THOSE KINKY PEPPERS!

One of summer’s delights are the many kinds of capsicum peppers—bell peppers in stop-and-go semáforo colors, red, yellow and green; chiles from hot to mild; stubby green Padrón peppers, and kinky, crinkly, skinny, green Italian frying peppers. 

Kinky green frying peppers. Choose straight ones for stuffing.

The green frying peppers are especially abundant and popular in local cooking. They’re fried whole and served as a tapa or side with grilled meat. They’re a basic ingredient in sofrito. Chopped raw peppers go into gazpacho and into pipirrana and piriñaca salads. They’re even used for stuffing.

These peppers are thin skinned and thin fleshed. Their crisp texture makes them ideal for using raw in salads. Many are twisted, even kinky. Their flavor is bittersweet and fruity, not hot.

I decided to stuff a bunch of these green peppers. Instead of the usual meat or meat plus ham stuffing, I chose a filling of canned bonito. Bonito del norte is white albacore tuna. Canned in olive oil, bonito has completely replaced canned tuna—endangered blue-fin—in my cupboard. This is an easy stuffing mixture to make with what you’ve got in the pantry. For stuffing, choose the less kinky specimens of peppers.

Once filled, the peppers are lightly fried in olive oil before being finished in a fresh tomato sauce. Frying adds flavor and blisters the peppers’ thin skin, which all but disappears during cooking.

Peppers stuffed with tuna are first fried, then simmered in fresh tomato sauce.

Stuffed peppers, a summertime treat. These are filled with canned albacore tuna.

Kids will love these tuna-stuffed peppers served with pasta.

Peppers Stuffed with Tuna
Pimientos Rellenos con Bonito

White albacore tuna from a can.

5-6 (6-inch) green frying peppers
1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
2 cups tomato sauce (recipe follows)
2 cups drained canned tuna, flaked
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten
Olive oil for frying
Pasta for serving (optional)

Remove stems and seeds from the peppers. Press the stem in until it breaks free. Pull the stem out with the seeds. Shake out remaining seeds.

Push stem in to release seeds.

Pull seeds out.

Place the bread crumbs in a small bowl and add the milk to soften them.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet and sauté the onion on medium heat until softened, 5 minutes. Squeeze out the breadcrumbs, discarding the milk. Add the bread to the skillet. Add 3 tablespoons of the tomato sauce and the tuna. Remove from heat. Add the parsley and season with salt and pepper. (Salt may not be needed, as canned tuna is fairly salty.) Stir in the beaten egg. Let the mixture cool.

Fry the stuffed peppers lightly before finishing in sauce.

Fill the peppers with the tuna stuffing mixture. Use a spoon or skewer to push it in. 

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a deep skillet. Fry the peppers, turning, until they are lightly browned and blistered on all sides. Remove. Pour off remaining oil.

Add the tomato sauce to the skillet or to a cazuela and place the peppers on top. Cook, partially covered to prevent splattering, 15 minutes. Turn the peppers over and cook 15 minutes more. The tomato sauce should thicken, but don’t allow the peppers to scorch.

Serve the peppers hot or room temperature, with pasta, if desired.

Stuffed peppers and tomato sauce are good served with pasta.

Fresh Tomato Sauce
Salsa de Tomate Fresco

Fresh tomato sauce, ready for many uses.

No need to peel the tomatoes before making the sauce, as later it gets pureed and sieved. The sauce keeps, covered and refrigerated, up to a week.

Makes about 2 cups sauce.

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 carrot, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
4 cups coarsely chopped plum tomatoes (about 1 ¾ pounds)
¼ cup white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan and sauté the onion, carrot and garlic. Add the tomatoes, wine and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer the sauce, partially covered, until thick, 30 minutes.

Puree the sauce in a blender and pass it through a sieve, discarding the skins and seeds.

More recipes for peppers—piquillo, Padrón and bell.

Fried Padrón Peppers.

Stuffed Peppers with Chunky Tomato Sauce.

Piquillo Peppers Stuffed with Shrimp.

Quail in "Slipcovers" of Red Pepper.

Tomato-Pepper Relish (Piriñaca)

Fresh Tomato and Pepper Salad (Pipirrana).