Bacalao Stuffed Piquillos in Basque Sauce

Original recipe: from Teresa Barrenechea: The Basque Table -- “Pimientos del Piquillo Rellenos de Bacalao con Salsa Viscaina”

Serves: 4

This is roasted Spanish red peppers stuffed with a salt cod bechamel, baked in a sauce of chilis and onions. It’s rich, complex, and feels like a combination of rustic and something you’d find at a fine restaurant.

I’ve made this a bunch of times and it’s been surprisingly popular, even with folks that I thought might be scared off by Bacalao (dried salt cod).  The original recipe takes a while but it’s not really hard. Recently, I’ve streamlined it significantly by using a food processor rather than meticulously cutting the fish and chilis, and eliminated the need for a food mill.

Bacalao has a taste that’s different from fresh cod -- earthy, perhaps even a bit funky. I used to only be able to find it in Portuguese markets but now even BJ’s wholesale and my local grocery store carry it. Look for ones without bones (sin espinas) or skin, it’s worth the extra money. We get the Piquillo peppers from our Harris Teeter grocery store: they’re in a can and, surprisingly, are the store brand. The can holds about 20 peppers which is just right for this recipe. For the sauce, the original recipe calls for Choricero chili peppers but these are very difficult to find, I’ve only had them from tienda.com. I use a flavorful fruity but mild Mexican chili like ancho, pasilla or poblano -- good rich taste and readily available.

Dividing the dough for spooning

Spooning in dough; a pastry bag is much easier

 

Stuffed peppers arranged on a layer of sauce

Cover with sauce then bake

Bacalao-stuffed Pequillos

225 g 1/2 pound Bacalao (boned and skinned dried salt cod)

50 ml 3 Tbs Olive Oil

25 g 3 Tbs Flour

350 ml 1.5 Cup Milk, heated

20 Piquillo Peppers (approx, from 1 can)

Rehydrate the Bacalao 1-2 days, changing the water several times a day. It will never be as soft as fresh but it should be flexible rather than firm; consider saving some of the last soaking water to loosen the sauce.

Whiz it in a food processor until roughly the texture of cooked ground beef, not a mush.

In a non-stick pan, saute Bacalao in Oil until lightly browned,

add Flour and cook another 15-20 minutes.

Slowly add the heated Milk while stirring and cook until resulting bechamel is smooth and thickens.

Cool so it firms up: it’s easier to fill the Piquillos if it’s almost a dough than a gravy.

It's easiest to stuff these with a Pastry Bag: fill the bag, then squirt into each pequillo "sock";

if you don't have that, it helps to divide the dough into 4 lumps, then divide each lump between 1/4th of the peppers -- that way each is filled evenly and you won't run out; fill each pepper by spooning in filling.

Basque Sauce

While the bechamel is cooling, make the sauce. I’ve cut back on the oil a fair amount from the original recipe as I found it too oily; this still has plenty of richness.

45 g 1.25 oz Dried Choricero, Poblano, Ancho Chili (rich, not spicy)

2 medium Yellow Onion, quartered

1 medium Red Onion, quartered

80 ml 1/3 C Olive Oil

1 clove Garlic

2 T Serrano Ham or Prosciutto (I usually omit)

1 Plum Tomato

to taste Salt

Slit Chilis and shake out seeds.

Rehydrate Chilis in cold water at least 8 hours; drain, reserving 1 Cup liquid.

Scrape out remaining seeds gently so you don’t lose the flesh.

Whiz Onions in food processor until a chopped fine, maybe ¼ inch chunks.

Saute Onions in Oil until softened.

Whiz the Chilis, Garlic, Ham, Tomato and cooked Onions in a food processor until smooth.

Add back to pan and cook about 20-30 minutes until everything’s soft and sauce reduced a bit, perhaps not as thick as ketchup; add reserved hydrating Liquid if it gets too tight or you want to boost the flavor.

Assembly

Spoon a little of the sauce on the bottom of a casserole or baking dish.

Arrange stuffed Pequillos in the dish; handle them gently so the sauce doesn’t ooze out too much.

Remember the arrangement so it’s easier to remove them gracefully at service.

Add the rest of the sauce, it should cover the Pequillos.

Bake at 350F about 30 minutes until hot and bubbly and a bit browned on the top.

Let cool a bit and firm up before serving.