Farinato Salmantino con Huevos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy frying pan
• •Food processor or box grater
• •Baking paper for shaping logs
• •Non-stick or well-seasoned frying pan

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the crumbs

   Tear the day-old bread into pieces and pulse it into coarse crumbs, not powder. You want some body left in it, because farinato should fry soft and crumbly, not turn into a paste as smooth as baby food. Weigh the crumbs. Pésalo, no lo adivines.

2. 2

   Cook the fat

   Put the minced pork back fat, minced pork belly, and olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium-low heat. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the fat softens and gives off enough gloss to coat the pan, but do not brown it hard. Farinato wants rendered fat and tenderness, not crisp bits.

3. 3

   Soften the onion

   Add the grated onion, grated garlic, and salt. Cook gently for 15 minutes, until the onion is soft, sweet, and no longer watery. This is the step that decides the dish: if the onion stays raw, the farinato tastes sharp; if it cooks down slowly, the bread takes in sweetness with the fat.

4. 4

   Bloom the spices

   Take the pan off the heat for a moment and stir in the sweet pimentón, hot pimentón if using, aniseed, and cumin. Return it to low heat for 30 seconds, just until it smells warm and red. Do not scorch the pimentón, or it turns bitter and there is no saving it.

5. 5

   Build the paste

   Stir in the breadcrumbs and flour until every crumb is stained red. Add the cold water and the aguardiente or wine if using, then cook over low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring and pressing, until the mixture comes together as a soft, thick paste that pulls from the pan in heavy folds. Taste a cooked crumb and adjust salt only if needed.

6. 6

   Chill to firm

   Scrape the farinato into a bowl, cover, and chill for at least 1 hour. This rest is not decoration; the crumbs finish swelling and the fat firms enough to fry cleanly. For a sausage shape, roll the chilled mixture in baking paper into two logs, but keep them refrigerated and treat them as fresh food.

7. 7

   Fry the farinato

   Break the chilled farinato into rough pieces or slice the logs into thick coins. Fry in a dry non-stick or well-seasoned pan over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes, turning once, until the outside darkens to brick red and the inside stays soft. If it crumbles a little, good. Farinato is not meant to behave like firm chorizo.

8. 8

   Add the eggs

   In a second pan, fry the eggs in olive oil until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny. Spoon the hot farinato onto plates, set an egg on each portion, and break the yolk into the red crumbs at the table. Serve with bread for pushing and mopping, tal como se hace allí.

Chef Tips

• •Use pork back fat if you can get it. If not, unsmoked fatty bacon with no sugar is the honest substitute, but reduce the salt a little because bacon brings its own.
• •Pimentón de la Vera matters here because there is no lean meat to hide behind. Sweet is the base; a little picante gives warmth without turning it into a different sausage.
• •Do not hang this recipe to cure at room temperature. Traditional farinato is an embutido, but curing needs the right salt, humidity, and air. This home version is fresh, chilled, and fried.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the farinato mixture up to 2 days ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator.
• •For longer keeping, shape it into logs, wrap tightly, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before frying.
• •Fry the farinato just before serving; the soft crumbs and runny egg are best straight from the pan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 370g)