Jane Johnson's Court of Lions (click through for my review) is set in both modern day and 15th century Granada. It's a finely crafted novel, interweaving narratives in the different time periods, and bringing to life the tumultuous period of history which saw the last Muslim sultans battling against each other and also the fanatical Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. There are several foodie mentions, inspired by both Spanish and North African cuisine, so I was spoilt for choice. I decided to go with the former, but I may well come back to the latter in another blogpost.
Very early on in the novel, the main character in the modern day part of the story, Kate, is writing out the menu in the restaurant she works in :
p5 Kate looked up with a start from the chalkboard on which she was writing - in Spanish on one side, English on the other - that night's specials : patatas a lo pobre, poor man's potatoes; piquillos rellenos, stuffed peppers; boquerones, Spanish white anchovies.
Patatas a lo pobre, or Poor Man's Potatoes, is a simple but tasty dish of spicy potatoes with peppers, onions and garlic that I have made before. (Click through for the recipe.) Spanish white anchovies would be hard to source, so I opted for piquillos rellenos, stuffed peppers. I've often cooked peppers stuffed with rice and minced beef, but this time, I decided to go with a spicy tomato and tuna stuffing, as it seemed more in-keeping with Spanish influences. Piquillos rellenos traditionally uses long, thin red peppers which can be bought in jars ready to stuff, but as I had a couple of green peppers in the fridge, I used those instead.
Piquillos rellenos, Spanish stuffed peppers
ingredients :
a jar of piquillos red peppers (or I used 2 green peppers)
drizzle of olive oil
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
a tin of tuna, drained
1tbsp tomato puree
3 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
1tbsp olives, chopped
salt, pepper, smoked paprika
Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and gently fry the finely chopped onion and garlic, until translucent but not brown.
Turn off the heat and stir through the drained tuna.
Add the tomato puree, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, salt, pepper and paprika and give it all a good stir.
You could add some cooked or microwaveable rice at this point but I already had plenty of stuffing.
Cut the tops off the peppers (reserve the lids) and remove the seeds and white parts from the inside.
Stuff with the tuna filling and pop the lids back on. Place on a baking tray and put in the oven at 180° for about half an hour.
The lids help prevent the filling from drying out during cooking. Serve with rice or you could opt for patatas a lo pobre for a truly Spanish feast.
Adding to the #readcookeat linky over at Chez Maximka.
Also adding to this month's #KitchenClearout linky as I used up odds and ends from the fridge (olives, sun-dried tomatoes, green peppers ...).
*** Don't miss my country-by-country globecooking recipe index ! ***
If you want some more Spanish-inspired meals, I have plenty to choose from :
