I know I don’t always eat as many vegetables as I probably should. But put a bag of pimientos de Padrón in front of me and suddenly eating three hundred grams of something green is no trouble at all.
These little peppers are sold in bags in almost every Spanish supermarket. I tip the whole bag into a hot pan, fry them until the skins blister and wrinkle, then finish them with plenty of coarse sea salt. Within ten minutes, there is a bowl of one of my favourite Spanish tapas on the table.
Sometimes I add a small piece of chorizo. It isn’t part of the traditional recipe, but as the chorizo cooks, it releases its red, smoky oil into the pan. That oil coats the peppers and gives them an entirely different character. Both versions are good; it simply depends on what I feel like eating.
What are pimientos de Padrón?
Pimientos de Padrón are small, thin-skinned green peppers associated with Galicia in north-western Spain.
Strictly speaking, the protected Galician peppers are called Pementos de Herbón. Herbón is a parish within the municipality of Padrón. Pepper seeds were brought to the area from the Americas by Franciscan monks during the seventeenth century. Over generations, local growers selected and cultivated the plants until they developed into the small green peppers known today.
The name Padrón pepper is now used much more widely, and the bags found in supermarkets may have been grown elsewhere in Spain. The traditional Galician peppers, however, remain closely connected to Herbón.
Are Padrón peppers spicy?
Most Padrón peppers are mild, fresh and slightly sweet, but every now and then one is surprisingly hot.
The well-known saying is uns pican e outros non: some are hot and others are not. There is no reliable way to tell before taking a bite, which turns a shared bowl into a small game of Spanish pepper roulette.
That occasional hot pepper is part of the pleasure. Everyone continues eating, waiting to see who gets it.
How to cook Padrón peppers
The most important thing is to use a wide, hot frying pan. The peppers need enough room to touch the surface of the pan so that their skins blister instead of slowly steaming.
Wash them, dry them thoroughly and leave the stems attached. Heat the olive oil, add the peppers and cook them for several minutes, shaking the pan regularly. They are ready when the skins are blistered and browned in places and the peppers have begun to soften and collapse.
Transfer them to a serving bowl, scatter over coarse sea salt and bring them to the table immediately.
Eat them with your fingers, holding each pepper by its stem and biting off the soft green part. Leave a small dish on the table for the discarded stems.
My chorizo variation
When I want a little more flavour, I cut approximately 60 grams of Spanish chorizo into small pieces and fry it first.
The chorizo only needs a couple of minutes to release its oil and become lightly crisp around the edges. I then add the peppers directly to the same pan. Because the chorizo provides additional fat, I begin with much less olive oil and add more only if the pan looks dry.
It may not be the version served in every tapas bar, but the combination of blistered green peppers, smoky chorizo and coarse salt is difficult to resist.
What to serve with Padrón peppers
Pimientos de Padrón are best served immediately while still hot from the pan. They are lovely with cold beer, vermouth or a glass of crisp white wine.
For a larger tapas table, serve them with marinated olives, crusty bread, Manchego cheese and a bowl of romesco sauce. They also work well beside grilled meat or fish.
However you serve them, do not expect leftovers. I can quite easily finish one of those supermarket bags by myself.
Pimientos de Padrón – Spanish Blistered Peppers
Ingredients
- – 300 g 10½ oz pimientos de Padrón
- – 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- – 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt plus more to taste
- – 60 g 2 oz Spanish chorizo, cut into small pieces
Method
- Wash the Padrón peppers and dry them thoroughly with a clean kitchen towel. Leave the stems attached.
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the peppers in a single layer.
- Cook for 4–6 minutes, shaking the pan and turning the peppers regularly, until their skins are blistered and browned in places and the peppers have softened.
- Transfer the peppers to a serving bowl and immediately sprinkle them with coarse sea salt. Serve hot.
- For the chorizo variation, cook the chorizo in the pan for approximately 2 minutes, until it begins to release its oil. Add the peppers and begin with only 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add a little more during cooking if needed.
