Meat Stuffed Piquillo Peppers, and my book, “Yo Fui el Primero”

Natacha Sanz Caballero Vegetables, Meat and Poultry, Events & Travel first circumnavigation, First voyage around the world, mi libro, my book, pimientos de piquillo, primera vuelta al mundo, publication, Spanish cuisine, yo fui el primero

I have been away from these pages for too long. You know it, I know it. So to make up for it, I bring you a star recipe: pimientos de piquillo de carne, meat stuffed piquillo peppers. I still have to find one person I’ve served these peppers to that doesn’t like them. They are a crowd pleaser, and I make them on special occasions, precisely because they are so special. I make piquillo peppers stuffed with meat as well as stuffed with cod, and both varieties are just as delicious, and a success among family and guests alike.

Yo Fui el Primero, the paperback

Piquillo peppers, bright red and triangular in shape, grow in Navarra, in the north of Spain, and you purchase them either canned or jarred (click here if you’d like to know more). However, lately I’ve seen cans of piquillo peppers labeled as coming from Peru. The difference, I find, is that the ones coming from Spain, with their own DO (Denominación de Origen, designation of origin) are thinner and more delicate. Flavor might be a bit different too. However, I’ve also found that it’s easier to find the peppers from Peru at American supermarkets, so go ahead and get them if you like. The dish will be just as wonderful.

I remember last year, around this same time, when I mentioned a summer hiatus could be the new new for Mama Ía blog: have a little summer break to recoup, gather more recipes, and start the new “school” year after the summer. Summer, after all, is a time when schedules are altered, they either get busier with kids being at home and with travel vacations, or slower, since even if you are home, your readers might be away and disconnected.

In part, this is what has happened. My summers get very full with other activities that involve more family, more travel, and more socializing, in places conducive to culture and gastronomy, but not so much to the kind of work that a blog requires (particularly when a Wi-Fi connection is not always guaranteed). Last year, this upset me a bit. I felt I was letting my audience down, depriving you of a weekly recipe you could (hopefully!) be expecting in a timely manner. But this year, I have embraced the break, feeling that me, as much as you, run on a different schedule than the rest of the year. My summer has been full of exciting experiences in different places, in different countries. I can’t wait to tell you more about it, and I know I will, in future posts.

Something else happened this year that kept me occupied (in a very good way), and that is the main reason for the long break on Mama Ía blog: I’ve been working on my other project, my book.

As some of you know, I published my historical fiction novel, Yo Fui el Primero, last January, as an electronic book that you can acquire on Amazon. The book had a very good welcome and reviews, particularly as the celebrations for the 500 anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the world started to take place in Spain. That led to a demand for a paperback. I could understand  it very well, since I am one that likes to hold a book and flip pages —you should see my carry-on when I come back from Spain: full of books I buy there, my reading material for the rest of the year.

I’ve been working on the paperback version of Yo Fui el Primero for the past few months, polishing, editing, formatting, reviewing.  Finally, Yo Fui el Primero in paperback is a reality, and I couldn’t be more proud and happy. The story of the first circumnavigation of the Earth is one that has been mesmerizing me for years, ever since I read a narration of the trip by American historian William Manchester, that led me to research the heroic feat further.

My first research notes on the trip date from 2005, and my first loose draft for the novel, from 2013. Yes, it took that much research, trying to learn as much as I could from the original sources, before I decided I wanted to tell the story. And I wanted to tell the story the way I knew it, the way it was taught to me in school: a trip into the unknown, a trip that took years to prepare, a trip that an indefatigable captain from Portugal, Ferdinand Magellan, started. But also a trip that was supported, funded, and mostly manned by Spain and Spaniards. A trip that was supposed to take a few months and ended up lasting more than three years. A trip that had one goal: reaching the spice Islands by sailing west, away from the eastern sea route dominated by Portugal. A trip with very well known heroes, and many more anonymous ones. A trip a Spanish mariner, Juan Sebastian Elcano, completed, returning home with a crew of 18 emaciated men, as captain of the only surviving ship, the Victoria. Victorious he was, and he made history.

I had no idea – it never occurred to me – when I started writing the book, that the 500th anniversary of the start of the trip was approaching. But here it is now, 2019, five centuries after the fleet of five boats departed from Seville on August 10, 1519, stayed in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, for more than a month before setting sail, September 21, 1519, to make history.

Yo Fui el Primero, carefully documented, is the story of two young men who embarked with the fleet —the Moluccas Armada, as it was called—, two anonymous heroes who will lead you through the fascinating story of the first circumnavigation of the Earth. With their own voices, one of them quiet, the voice of a slave, the other sharp and inquisitive, that of a Castilian young man, Enrique and Diego will take you through what is probably the most amazing sea journey known to man, and one of  humankind most unparalleled achievements.

I invite you to read the book if you can (you can get the ebook here and the paperback here), and I hope you like it and spread the word. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with the recipe for pimientos de piquillo de carne, meat stuffed piquillo peppers (my mom’s recipe, as usual, my favorite). I also encourage you to make them, and I hope you like them as much as we do.

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MEAT STUFFED PIQUILLO PEPPERS

Pimientos de Piquillo de Carne

Author: Natacha Sanz Caballero, Mama Ía blog

Ingredients

• 1 Lb ground beef traditionally 1/2 Lb ground beef + 1/2 Lb ground pork
• 3 cloves garlic peeled
• 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley
• 1 tomato puréed
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 cup flour
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup white wine or water, to taste
• 1 jar or can 10 ounce whole preserved piquillo peppers

Instructions

• In a mortar, pound together the garlic and the parsley. In a bowl, season the meat with salt and pepper and add 1/2 of the garlic and parsley mixture. Mix well. Add 1 tablespoon of water. Continue mixing until a paste forms.
• In a skillet, heat 1/4 cup olive oil on medium-high heat. Add 1/2 of the chopped onion and sauté until translucent. Add the meat mixture and cook at medium heat, stirring so the meat breaks up, until almost done. Mix in the bread crumbs. Transfer to a bowl.
• Drain the piquillo peppers in a colander and reserve the liquid. In a small saucepan heat 1/4 cup olive oil at medium heat. Add the remaining chopped onion and cook until translucent. Add the remaining garlic and parsley mixture and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomato and cook an extra 4 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the flour and mix well. Add the reserved liquid from the peppers and 1/4 cup of wine (if using) or water. Increase the heat to high and cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes. Lower the heat to low and cook the sauce until it reduces a bit, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Pass through a foodmill and reserve (you can also purée with an immersion blender).
• Meanwhile, spread the remaining flour in a shallow bowl. Carefully fill each piquillo pepper with the meat mixture, using a spoon and watching to not to overfill the peppers, as their delicate flesh might break.
• In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup olive oil over high heat. Working in batches, coat each pepper with flour on all sides and add to the skillet with the hot oil, as many peppers as the skillet will hold, without crowding the peppers. Lower the heat to medium and cook on all sides, about 1 minute per side. Transfer the peppers to a plate with paper towels to drain. Fry the remaining peppers in the same way.
• Transfer the first batch of peppers to a cazuela or oven dish and replace the paper towels on the plate before transferring the next batch of peppers from the skillet.
• When all the peppers are lined in the cazuela, pour over the sauce. Place the cazuela over medium heat and heat through for another 5 minutes (alternatively, you can place the cazuela in the oven at 350ºF for about 10 minutes. Serve with crusty bread.

Notes

The meat stuffed piquillo peppers can be made the day before. Just don’t add the sauce until ready to warm up and serve.