Recipe: Papas con choco is noble peasant cooking
Credit to Author: Randy Shore| Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2019 18:00:44 +0000
Papas con choco is one of the oldest recipes known to be from Seville, Spain, according to Chef José Pizarro, author of Andalusia: Recipes from Seville and Beyond. This peasant dish combines two of the cheapest and most common ingredients in the region, potatoes and cuttlefish, in the most noble way.
2 lb. (900 g) cuttlefish, cleaned and sliced into 1 ¼-inch (3-cm) lengths
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil, for frying
1 onion, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed
1 tsp. (5 mL) sweet smoked Pimentón de la Vera
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs of rosemary
14 oz. (400 mL) tin chopped tomatoes
Pinch of saffron
8 cups (2 L) fish, chicken or vegetable stock
2 lb. (900 g) charlotte or other waxy potatoes
Handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
Season the cuttlefish. Pour a little olive oil into a heavy-based, lidded saucepan or lidded casserole dish over high heat and fry the cuttlefish strips and tentacles for 2-3 minutes, until golden. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add a little more oil to the saucepan and turn the heat down to medium. Fry the onion and garlic with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes, until soft. Add the smoked pimentón, herbs, chopped tomatoes and saffron, and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour half of the stock into the saucepan, add the cuttlefish and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour, until the fish is tender, adding a little more stock or boiled water if it’s looking dry.
Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and, using a small knife, break each one into 1¼-inch (3-cm) pieces so they have rough edges. Add the potatoes to the saucepan with the remaining stock and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with plenty of parsley and serve.
Makes 4 servings.