This week, I tried my hand at another delicious tapas dish – pimientos del padrón! These are lovely little green peppers that are salty and delicious. I usually don’t like peppers, but this is one of my favorite tapas. It’s a must-try Spanish dish.
There’s a popular saying about pimientos del padrón – “unos pican, otros no” (some are spicy, others aren’t). I haven’t come across a spicy one yet, but I live in hope!
Now, I don’t do much cooking, but I had a serious craving for these. When I saw how easy they were to make, I had to try it out. Luckily, they turned out amazingly well. Trust me, if I can make them, you can too. (Really – I’m the girl who set pasta on fire while it was in a pot of water.)
Best of all? It only takes about ten minutes. So here’s how you make pimientos del padrón:
Ingredients: padrón peppers (or other small green peppers), enough olive oil to put a couple of inches in your pan, and sea salt.
It’s super easy – heat up your pan, add the oil, and when it’s hot, drop in the peppers. I had to put something over my pan because the oil started spitting and I’m a nervous cook.
When they start looking wrinkly and a little brown, pop them out and sprinkle salt on them. ¡Ya está!
These are really yummy, and you can cook as many or as few as you want. They’re an easy way to get a taste of Spanish tapas. Here’s how mine turned out:
Here’s a more official recipe, but I couldn’t find one that was much more difficult than my not-really-recipe:
- Party With Padron Peppers (tessashomemade.com)
Currently listening to: “Anything Could Happen” by Ellie Goulding
Currently reading: One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
Besos y buen provecho!
-Jess
OH boy! Wait until you get a hot, spicy one! From what I´ve heard, about one in ten are HOT!!
Hmm…one in ten, those are pretty good odds!
So now I can be sure you are eating plenty of veggies xxxx
Yes, Mummy! 🙂 I even had a tomato too the other day (and I don’t mean ketchup).
One of my favorites also, but a little scary if you’re a nervous cook. I’ve also found that you need to be careful about the peppers you buy. I’ve bought ones that look identical but aren’t del Padron and the result is a plate of delicious, but mild peppers. As a spicy food addict it’s a bit anti-climactic.
On another note I like to go out with friends and bet the restaurant check on who picks up the most spicy peppers. The best part about it is that it’s absolutely impossible to predict.
Just wait till you hit that first spicy one. They kick like a mule.
I love spicy food too, so I live in hope! Someday…
Do you know any places that have good ones?
I’m gonna check a few of the local mercats around Gràcia. I’ll let you know.
Shall have to try this out with the larger less spicy ones that grow locally. The regular ‘chillies’ are too hot!
Ooh, with really spicy chilies it could get really hot! I’m sure it tastes delicious with any kind of pepper – there’s not much that can go wrong with olive oil and salt.
Love the padrons too. I tend to make them in the oven, just rubbed in oil and with a sprinkle of salt.
I’ve heard about spicy padrons, but never been in a group that found one. Maybe restaurants used to throw i a green chilly to keep the legend alive?
Haha maybe! That definitely makes sense. I think I’ve only been out once when somebody’s found a hot one.
In the oven sounds good too, how long do you leave them in for?
If the oven is preheated, I leave them in for around 15 min (give or take 5 min depending on your oven). You have to be careful not to overcook it, since they just seem to fade away from the inside.
Awesome, thanks! I’ll give that a go.
I’ve never come across a spicy one either, and am always nervous to do so, as I have heard stories… (I like a bit of spicy food but think the spicy padron’s are probably a bit too much for my liking!) But the non-spicy ones are delicious at least 😉
So it’s not just me! I have a suspicion they aren’t that spicy because when the Spanish say something is “muy picante”, I think it’s just a tiny bit spicy. I guess we’ll have to wait until we win the pimientos del padrón lottery to find out.
Hola, Jessica! Thanks for this great post! We just got in fresh padrón peppers here at http://www.latienda.com. I empathize with those who made comments about the spiciness. We always sautee a few batches from each shipment we get – in part because we want to be sure they are not all wildly spicy – we find it’s about 1 in 10 for this year’s crop, and in part because we LOVE to eat them here at the office and warehouse. It is so worth it to have the authentic peppers – they are a little sweet and a little nutty and really, very few have the spicy heat. But we’ll keep you posted if they do! Thanks for your blog! Keep up the great work 🙂
Best wishes,
Laurie
Thanks very much, Laurie! You guys have some fab stuff in La Tienda, if I ever move out of Spain it’ll be much-needed. 🙂
I loved, loved, loved pimientos de Padron when I was in Spain, thanks for sharing this delicious post!
Me too, I’m obsessed. Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
That’s very much a Chinese dish called ‘Tiger skin’ peppers … That’s usually made with larger peppers but I bet these smaller ones make for a far nicer appetizer!
Yes, they’re perfectly bite-sized so they’re really satisfying. I’ll have to look into tiger skin peppers now…those sound great!
My boyfriend loves those Padrón suckers! haha I like them actually. It was like the tapa that would never go away — we had to have it every time we did tapeo. Wait until I tell him how easy the recipe is…oh boy. 😛 Thanks for posting!
Haha if he likes them that much, you guys should definitely try making them! They’re pretty much foolproof.
Wow, that’s REALLY easy. Yum!
Yeah, I was shocked! It’s so easy, and so tasty too.
Was just thinking about these the other day! I regret not eating them in Spain. I saw them a lot when I was at the tapa bars in Madrid and in Seville. My boyfriend likes them! I have a question for you. I was watching a Spanish documentary awhile ago and they said that people in Spain travel in 4’s to go tapa tasting, like its a cultural thing. What do they call this?
I’ve heard it called ‘tapeando’ (tapa-ing) from ‘tapear’ (to go for tapas). But I haven’t heard of it as being limited to groups of 4…I’ll have to research that!
Is there such thing as Quadrilenos? LAUGHING. Something along the line of quadro…..something. It must be a cultural thing. I felt odd one night when I was out by myself getting tapas. It was even strange for two of us to get tapas. Hope all is well 🙂
Hahaha let’s say it is! Quadrilenos sounds good to me.
I love pimientos al padrón!!!! Soooo good!! And for a nice salad, I love frying red peppers with garlic in olive oil til they’re soft, cutting them into strips, and adding a bit of tuna and olives before putting it all in the fridge to get cold (I love it cold). Delicious!
Oh man, that sounds perfect! I’ll definitely try that.
We Indians use a lot of chilli in food, but this seems totally different. Thanks for the post.
You’re welcome, glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve had one or two spicy in my day but that’s part of the fun isn’t it?! 😉 Did you know they are called Padron because the peppers originate from a town called Padrón in Galicia? I just discovered that on my recent trip to northwest Spain.
Oh I didn’t know that – thanks for letting me know! I’m jealous you found an elusive spicy one. 🙂