MY KITCHEN IN SPAIN: PIQUILLOS! THE MOST FESTIVE VEGETABLE

Piquillo peppers are holiday red!

Their brilliant red color surely qualifies piquillo peppers as the perfect holiday vegetable. Dress ‘em up, dress ‘em down, stuff them or cut them in strips, serve hot or cold, sauced or simply with extra virgin olive oil.

Piquillo peppers are those small, flame-red peppers you buy in jars or cans at the grocery store. Cooks rave about them for their complex sweet and piquant flavor. The variety of pepper is grown in Navarra (northern Spain), in the area around Lodosa in the Ebro valley. The name, piquillo, means little “beak,” for the pointy tip of the pepper.

Jar label for Lodosa piquillos.

Pimientos de Piquillo de Lodosa have PDO—protected denomination of origin. Piquillo peppers from Navarra are flame-roasted, hand-peeled and packed in cans or jars. The authentic Lodosa peppers contain, besides the peppers, only salt and an acidulating agent. However, not all piquillos are from Lodosa! Check the labels, because, even in Spain, the piquillos of many brands are imported from Peru and have added sugar.

I once grew piquillo peppers in my vegetable garden. They looked gorgeous, but proved impossible to roast and peel, so thin were the skins. I’m happy just to be able to buy them.

The classic Basque recipe for stuffed piquillos is with bacalao, salt cod, in a cream sauce. After filling, the peppers are dipped in egg and fried before being finished in the oven. I usually do a similar recipe, using shrimp instead of the cod. (See below for links to more piquillo recipes.) But this week, I’m making a vegetarian version, with a mushroom stuffing. It’s a fine starter for a holiday meal.

Piquillo peppers stuffed with mushrooms make a festive starter.

Peppers bake with a cheese sauce on top.

Stuffing for peppers is vegetarian.

Piquillo Peppers with Mushroom Stuffing and Cheese Sauce

Pimientos de Piquillo Rellenos con Setas y Salsa de Queso

Ideally, the stuffing would be made with seasonal wild mushrooms, but cultivated ones are delicious too. I used half ordinary white mushrooms and half oyster mushrooms.

Although the recipe is vegetarian, it is not vegan. If preferred, substitute unsweetened almond milk for the cream and use a picada topping instead of cheese sauce. (See the recipe for almond-hazelnut picada here. )

Brandy gives the mushrooms real depth of flavor. Brandy de Jerez is aged in Sherry casks.

The piquillo peppers can be stuffed in advance of baking. Store them, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before adding the sauce and baking.

Serves 4 as a starter.

12 piquillo peppers (from a 225-gram jar)

10 ounces mushrooms

¼ cup olive oil + additional for the baking dish

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika) + more to garnish

3 tablespoons Brandy de Jerez

1 small (4-ounce) cooked potato

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of thyme

Pinch of pimentón picante or cayenne

½ cup light cream or evaporated milk

For the cheese sauce:

You will only need about half of this cheese sauce for 12 piquillos. Save the remaining sauce for another use. Broccoli gratin, perhaps?

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ tablespoons flour

¼ teaspoon smoked pimentón

1 cup milk

½ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 ounces grated cheese (about 1 cup)

¼ cup hot water

Sauté mushrooms.

Remove peppers from the jar, saving their juices.

Trim mushrooms as needed and chop them coarsely. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet on medium-high. Add the mushrooms, shallots and garlic. Sauté until mushrooms are lightly browned and are beginning to sizzle in the oil. Stir in the pimentón and immediately add the brandy. Cook on medium until the alcohol cooks off, 2 minutes.

Cut the potato in small dice and add it to the pan with salt, pepper, thyme and picante. Cook 2 minutes, then add the cream or evaporated milk. Cook, stirring and mashing the potatoes slightly. Remove the pan from the heat.

Stuff peppers.

Lightly oil a baking dish that will hold the peppers in one layer. Use a teaspoon (and fingers) to fill the piquillo peppers, gently pushing the filling to the tips. As they are filled, lay them in the baking dish. (The stuffed peppers can be prepared in advance and refrigerated, covered. Bring them to room temperature before baking.)

Stuffed and ready to bake.

For the cheese sauce: Heat the oil in a saucepan and stir in the flour and pimentón. Cook on medium heat for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and stir the sauce until it thickens. Season with salt and pepper and cook the sauce 5 minutes. Stir in the grated cheese. Remove the pan from the heat.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Drizzle the peppers with olive oil and reserved juices drained from the peppers. Pour hot water around the peppers in the baking dish. Spoon the cheese sauce on top of the peppers. Bake the peppers until bubbly and the sauce lightly golden, 15 minutes. Serve hot.