Bacalao Stuffed Piquillos in Basque Sauce: richer, for two

We've been making this for years based on the book by Teresa Barrenechea: The Basque Table. Irene said the sauce overwhelmed the dish and that she wanted more fish with larger chunks in the peppers. This revised recipe addresses those desires, and scales it for a dinner for two. 

We're scaling some of the proportions based on ingredients we can find here. For example, instead of the dried salt cod at 24€/Kg, we can use half a bag of frozen Bacalao de Punto de Sal which is just 6€/Kg and doesn't require hydration to de-salt. The Pequillos come in 220 mg jar and ours contained 11 peppers. I had one Choricero pepper, not enough, so I added a Ñora. A pastry bag really simplifies stuffing the peppers, but a zip-top bag with corner cut off should work, or you can use a spoon if you're a masochist.

Stuffed and sauced, before baking

Bacalao Béchamel

250 g      Bacalao del Punto de Sal, frozen

 40 ml     Olive Oil

 20 g      Flour

175 g      Milk

Chop the Bacalao into pea-sized chunks, this is easier while it's still partially frozen.

Sauté on high heat in 40 ml Olive Oil to drive off water, about 5 minutes.

Add Flour and cook off the raw edge on medium, about 5 minutes.

Add Milk and continue cooking until it's noticeably thicker; you don't want it pour-able when hot.

Load a pastry bag with the filling, making sure its snout is big enough to accommodate the Bacalao chunks; let cool while you make the Sauce in the same skillet.

Basque Sauce

The original recipe hydrates dried Spanish chilis, but here we can find jars of Choricero and Ñora flesh ("carne") which is convenient if you haven't planned ahead.

 14 g      Choricero or Ñora Peppers, dried, or 150 g jar "carne"

165 g      Onion, 1 small to medium, diced

 30 ml     Olive Oil

  2 cloves Garlic

 15 g      Tomato (1/4 small)

           Salt

Seed the Chili Peppers and hydrate 8 hours; you can also simmer in hot water for about 30-60 minutes if needed. Keep the hydrating water. Roughly chop the Chilis.

Sauté the Onion in the 30 ml Olive Oil until soft.

Add the Garlic, Chilis, and Tomato, and continue to cook until the Garlic is soft; it's fine if the Onions take on a bit of color.

Transfer to the jar of a stick blender and whiz to make a sauce. You may need to add some of the reserved Chili hydration water to thin it enough -- that's fine, it has flavor. 

Taste and adjust Salt. 

If the Sauce is too thin, return it to the skillet and cook down to thicken.

Assembly

10-12  Pequillo Peppers, whole, from 290 g gross / 220 g net jar

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Drain the Pequillos and arrange on a plate; I find it handy to put a shot glass in the center to hold the Pequillos as I'm stuffing them.

Fill the Pequillos with the Bacalao Béchamel using the pastry bag.

Spoon about a third of the Sauce into an oven proof baking dish.

Arrange the stuffed Pequillos around the dish and top with the remaining Sauce.

Bake for 15-30 minutes so everything's hot.

Serve.