This dish is quintessentially Spanish. It packs a great punch as a breakfast and is even better as a brunch, and is a miracle cure for those who have imbibed a little too freely the previous evening. You can cook this meal for the individual or as a communal dining indulgence.
The core ingredients are staples of the Spanish kitchen, Chorizo, onions, tomatoes, garlic, serrano ham and pimentón (smoked paprika), but as with many classic Spanish recipes, you can quite easily add whatever is seasonably available, or leverage what is left over from the fridge. I love cooking this in Spring when my Broad beans are young and sweet, but frozen peas serve just as well, and you can always use both.
Ingredients
Spanish earthenware is great to finish off this recipe, but any overproof vessel will do. I start with a simple saucepan and :
- A good slosh of olive oil, enough to cover your cooking vessel
- 1 large onion, chopped roughly
- 1-2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 chorizo sausages, sliced thinly
- 1 red capsicum, roasted, skinned, and chopped, or use roasted capsicums from a jar (this is what I normally do)
- large tin of tomatoes (about 800g) of diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (pimentón picante)
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- pinch of sugar
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 80 g serrano ham, chopped
- 75 g peas, cooked
- 100 g fresh broad beans, blanched and outer bean skin removed
- 4 eggs
- A small bunch of parsley
You can really simply double all ingredients for a larger group.
Preparation
Prepare all ingredients ahead of time and have them ready to add to the recipe as needed.
Once ingredients are ready, pre-heat the oven to 200 degree Celsius.
Have a trusty sidekick available to slice some thick bread (toasted bread is optional), ready for dipping and mopping up the rich tomato sauce.
Method
- Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat and cook the sliced Chorizo until nicely caramelised.
- Add onions until soft, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant, taking care not to caramelise the onion or the garlic.
- Add the pimentón, and fry for 1-2 minutes, then add the tomato paste, the capsicums, the chopped tomatoes a pinch of sugar and season liberally with salt and peper. Cover the pan and cook until the tomatoes are slightly reduced and everything is well combined and aromatic about 10 minutes.
- Add the peas and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Transfer the entire contents into either a single ovenproof dish or shallow casserole or pour the tomato sauce mix into four separate Spanish ceramic saucers. Scatter over the serrano ham and green beans. Break the eggs into the sauce. Season again with salt and pepper. Bake until the egg whites are set and the yolks still soft, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Scatter the chopped parsley over the dish and serve with bread.