← Nouns Cooking · French

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp Olive oil
• 1 Onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves Garlic, sliced
• 2 red peppers, cut into strips
• 1 green pepper, cut into strips
• 4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tsp Piment d’Espelette (mild Basque chilli)
• 2 sprigs Thyme
• 6 Eggs, lightly beaten
• Salt
• 4 slices slices of Bayonne ham, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 5 min until soft. Add the garlic and peppers and cook for 10 min, stirring, until the peppers are tender.
2. Add the tomatoes, Espelette, thyme and a pinch of salt and simmer for 10 min, until the juices have mostly cooked away and you have a thick, jammy mix. Remove the thyme stalks.
3. Turn the heat to low and pour in the eggs. Stir slowly and gently for 3–4 min, until they are just set into soft, creamy curds through the vegetables.
4. If using the ham, fry the slices briefly in a hot pan until just crisp at the edges. Serve the piperade straight away with the ham and crusty bread.

Tips

• The ham is optional; leave it off to keep it vegetarian.
• You can also cook the pepper base, make wells and bake the eggs whole, shakshuka-style.

Sources

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

BBC Good Food olive magazine