“Pisto” is the name of this traditional dish which is made of slow cooked vegetables and “Manchego” means literally “from la Mancha” which is the region where it comes from: Castilla la Mancha. This region, as you´ll see in the map is located in the centre of Spain, to the south of Madrid and it is also the region where the novel, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes takes place. The origins of this dish seem to be Arabic, from the times where Spain was occupied by the Arabs many years ago, from the Middle ages to the Renaissance, and then it became a very simple dish peasants would cook with season vegetables.
People cook Pisto slightly different depending on where they live, but after doing some research, this method I´ve explained here is the most common. Antonio Romero, who is a chef at the Alfar Restaurant in Toledo, told me a bit about it and gave me some useful tips! What is very important is that you cook the vegetables on a low heat. This method is called “poaching” and it is what will make the difference of having a stir-fry or a pisto. The benefits of this method are that the vegetables will be more tender and juicy and also, slow cooking helps you to relax and take things easy: we rush too much over the day!
I actually thought of making it today to use up some vegetables I had in the fridge that I realised we use with Pisto. So, if by any chance you have courgette, onions, peppers, tomatoes and some eggs (the aubergine is not originally a veg you would use but that has changed nowadays) you are lucky and your dinner is sorted for today, I hope you like it!


Map of Castilla la Mancha


Level of difficulty: Easy
Time: 1,5h – 2 hours

Ingredients (4 people): (If you are only 2, use half of each of the ingredients)
. 300g courgette
. 300g aubergine
. 1 kg tomatoes
. 1kg onion
. 500g green pepper
. 500g red pepper
. cumin
. olive oil
. salt and pepper

Method
1. Heat up a generous amount of olive oil in a cooking pot. Chop the onions and cook them in the cooking pot for about 10 minutes on medium heat until they are translucent.
2. Chop the peppers and add them to the pot, season with salt and pepper and cook everything for another 10 minutes.
3. Chop the courgettes and add them to all the rest, season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Chop the aubergines and add them to the pot, season with salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Grate the tomatoes, discard the skin and add them to the pot. Add some cumin, about one heaped teaspoon. That will compensate the acidity of the tomatoes, it´s a tip Antonio Romero from the Alfar Restaurant in Toledo gave me and it really works perfectly well, thanks Antonio! Turn up the heat a little bit at this point until the tomatoes are a bit done and the rest of juices of the vegetables evaporate, around 10 minutes. Lower the heat after that and cook on medium low for about an hour or until the juices evaporate. It might take 1,5 hours. Keep checking and stirring occasionally over that time.
6. The consistency we want to achieve is a stew consistency, so we want it moist but not runny or too dry.
7. You can have this dish as a veggie main or as a side with meat or fish. Today we are having it as people traditionally have it in La Mancha, which is with a fried egg on top and we also have some fresh traditional round bread to dip in I just made in the morning … yummy! Enjoy!

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