← Nouns Cooking · Spanish

Ingredients

• 400 g stale rustic bread (2–3 days old), crusts mostly removed
• 100 ml Water
• 1 tsp Salt
• 6 tbsp Olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled, lightly crushed
• 150 g Chorizo, diced
• 150 g pancetta or bacon lardons
• 1 green pepper, cut into strips (optional)
• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika (pimentón dulce)
• 4 eggs, to fry (optional)

Method

1. Cut the bread into small cubes about 1 cm across. Dissolve the salt in the water and sprinkle it over the bread, tossing with your hands until just damp, not soggy. Wrap in a clean tea towel and leave for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and fry the garlic for 3 min until golden. Add the chorizo, pancetta and pepper (if using) and fry for 5 min until crisp, then lift everything out, leaving the oil.
3. Add the bread to the oil, turn the heat to medium-low and cook for 12–15 min, turning and chopping at it constantly with a spatula, until it breaks into crumbs that are golden and crisp outside but tender inside.
4. Stir in the paprika, then return the meats and garlic and toss for 1 minute.
5. Serve hot, topped with fried eggs if you like; in La Mancha they are eaten with grapes or melon on the side.

Tips

• Keep the bread moving or it turns into one big fried lump.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Great British Chefs olive magazine Foods & Wines from Spain