Piquillos Rellenos de Bacalao

Piquillos rellenos de bacalao are Navarra-Basque, made from the little flame-roasted red peppers of Lodosa and the salted cod that has fed the northern larder for generations. What makes the dish itself is the balance: sweet pepper, gentle salt cod, and a filling held together just enough to stay inside the pepper. Not a heavy paste. Not a croqueta hiding in a red coat.

The method that decides it is the bacalao. Desalt it patiently, then poach it barely, flake it by hand, and bind it with a light bechamel so it stays soft. If you boil the cod hard, it tightens and tastes woolly. If you drown it in flour, the pepper disappears. The filling should spoon in warm and tender, with the cod still recognizable.

No hace falta haber pisado España. If you can't find true pimientos del piquillo de Lodosa, use good jarred whole roasted red peppers, but choose small firm ones and drain them well; they will be sweeter and less pointed, and they tear more easily. For the cod, buy salt cod if you can and give it the full soak. If you must use fresh cod, salt it lightly for an hour first and know the flavor will be gentler.

Make the filling ahead if you like. Fill the peppers without fuss, lay them in a shallow cazuela, and nap them with a sauce made from their own juices. Siempre sale, si lo sigues. In the Margin beside this one, I keep the same warning every time: dry the peppers before you fill them, or the sauce thins and sulks.