Chef Isabel
Albergínies Farcides Mallorquines
Albergínies farcides are Mallorca's summer stuffed aubergines: tender boiled shells, a slow pork sofrito with moraduix, and a plain breadcrumb cap baked until the top turns crisp and golden.
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Piquillos Rellenos de Carne
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Piquillos Rellenos de Carne are Navarra's small red peppers filled with a slow minced-meat sofrito and settled in their own pepper sauce. The filling must be thick, or the peppers will weep.
Appetizers & Snacks
Spanish
Dinner Party
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
55 min cook•1 hr 30 min total
Yield6 servings
Piquillos Rellenos de Carne are Navarrese before they are anything else: small roasted piquillo peppers, usually from Lodosa, filled with a minced-meat sofrito, the slow onion base, then warmed in a sauce made from the peppers themselves. The pepper is sweet, thin, and triangular, not a bell pepper pretending to be useful. That sweetness carries the dish.
The method that decides it is the filling. Cook the onion low until it goes soft and gold, then cook the beef and pork until the juices are gone, and bind it with just enough flour and milk to make it spoonable, not loose. A wet filling tears the peppers and thins the sauce. A thick one sits neatly inside and tastes of meat, onion, and roasted pepper together.
If you can't find fresh or jarred Pimientos del Piquillo de Lodosa, use good whole roasted red peppers in a jar, small ones if you can. They will be broader and softer, so stuff them lightly and close them with the seam underneath. No hace falta haber pisado España. You do need good peppers, patience with the sofrito, and a gentle hand.
My Margin beside this one says only: cool the filling. Hot filling makes brave cooks clumsy. Let it rest, spoon it in, and warm the stuffed peppers in the sauce until glossy. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Piquillo peppers belong especially to the Ribera Navarra, with Lodosa the best-known name, where the peppers are roasted over flame, peeled without washing, and preserved so their sweet, smoky flesh keeps its character. Stuffing them with meat or salt cod became part of the home and celebration table across Navarra and La Rioja, using the preserved pepper as both vessel and sauce. The dish shows the logic of that larder: a small seasonal pepper made generous with a filling, then brought back to itself in red pepper sauce.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole roasted piquillo peppers
Quantity
18
drained, kept whole
extra piquillo peppers
Quantity
3
for the sauce
minced beef
Quantity
250g
minced pork
Quantity
150g
onion
Quantity
1 medium, 180g
finely chopped
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
minced
jamón serrano
Quantity
60g
finely chopped
olive oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
plain flour
Quantity
1 tablespoon
whole milk
Quantity
120ml
tomato passata or grated ripe tomato
Quantity
2 tablespoons
dry white wine
Quantity
80ml
chicken stock
Quantity
250ml
onion for the sauce
Quantity
1 small, 120g
chopped
garlic for the sauce
Quantity
1 clove
sliced
sweet pimentón
Quantity
1 teaspoon
salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole roasted piquillo peppersdrained, kept whole | 18 |
| extra piquillo peppersfor the sauce | 3 |
| minced beef | 250g |
| minced pork | 150g |
| onionfinely chopped | 1 medium, 180g |
| garlicminced | 2 cloves |
| jamón serranofinely chopped | 60g |
| olive oil | 3 tablespoons |
| plain flour | 1 tablespoon |
| whole milk | 120ml |
| tomato passata or grated ripe tomato | 2 tablespoons |
| dry white wine | 80ml |
| chicken stock | 250ml |
| onion for the saucechopped | 1 small, 120g |
| garlic for the saucesliced | 1 clove |
| sweet pimentón | 1 teaspoon |
| salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide frying pan
- •Shallow cazuela or wide saute pan
- •Blender or immersion blender
- •Small spoon for stuffing
Instructions
- 1
Drain the peppers
Lift the piquillos from the jar and lay them on kitchen paper, keeping 18 whole for stuffing and 3 for the sauce. Do not rinse them. The roasting juices are part of the flavor, and washing them away is a small crime with a clean conscience.
If a few peppers are torn, save them for the sauce. The neatest whole ones are for stuffing. - 2
Cook the sofrito
Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the 180g chopped onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until soft, sweet, and pale gold. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute more. This slow onion is the floor of the filling; rush it and the meat tastes flat.
- 3
Cook the meat
Add the minced beef and pork, breaking them up small with a wooden spoon. Cook until the meat has lost its raw color and the pan is nearly dry, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chopped jamón and tomato, then cook 3 minutes more until the mixture is thick and smells rounded, not sharp.
- 4
Bind the filling
Sprinkle over the flour and stir for 1 minute so it loses its raw taste. Pour in the milk little by little, stirring, until the meat holds together in a soft, thick paste. Season with pepper and only a little salt, because the jamón has already spoken. Spread the filling on a plate and let it cool until just warm.
- 5
Make the sauce
In a shallow cazuela or wide pan, warm the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the 120g chopped onion and cook 8 to 10 minutes until soft. Add the sliced garlic for 1 minute, then take the pan briefly off the heat and stir in the pimentón. Add the wine, return to the heat, and let it reduce by half. Add the 3 extra piquillos and the stock, then simmer 10 minutes.
- 6
Blend smooth
Blend the sauce until smooth, then taste for salt. It should be red, silky, and plainly of pepper, not tomato. If it is too thick, loosen it with a spoon or two of water. If it tastes thin, simmer it a few minutes longer. Pésalo, no lo adivines gets you started, but tasting finishes the job.
- 7
Stuff the piquillos
Spoon 1 heaped tablespoon of cooled meat filling into each pepper, filling it gently without forcing the sides. Lay the stuffed peppers seam-side down in the sauce. Work with your hands if that is easier; nobody wins a medal for using a teaspoon badly.
- 8
Braise gently
Set the pan over low heat and let the stuffed piquillos warm in the sauce for 12 to 15 minutes, spooning a little sauce over the tops once or twice. Do not boil them hard, or the peppers split and the filling pushes out. Serve warm, glossy with sauce, with bread nearby because leaving that sauce behind would be foolish.
Chef Tips
- •Buy Pimientos del Piquillo de Lodosa if you can. They are small, thin-fleshed, sweet, and already roasted properly. If you use larger roasted red peppers, cut them into neat pieces or stuff them lightly; the flavor will be good, but the shape will not be the same.
- •The filling must be cool before stuffing. Warm filling softens the pepper and makes it tear under your spoon. This is not skill, it is temperature.
- •Use mixed beef and pork, not only lean beef. The pork keeps the filling tender, while the jamón gives salt and depth. If you skip the jamón, add a little more salt and expect a plainer filling.
- •The sauce should taste mostly of piquillo pepper. Tomato is only there to round the edge, not to turn the dish into tomato sauce.
- •Serve these as a first course or as part of a dinner table with bread, a green salad, and a Navarrese rosado or a young Rioja. They are rich enough to stand on their own.
Advance Preparation
- •The meat filling can be made up to 24 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring it close to room temperature before stuffing so it spoons cleanly.
- •The sauce can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Rewarm it gently before adding the stuffed peppers.
- •The assembled dish can be cooked a day ahead. Reheat covered over low heat with a splash of water if the sauce has thickened.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 230g)
Calories
315 calories
Total Fat
21 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
15 g
Cholesterol
60 mg
Sodium
850 mg
Total Carbohydrates
13 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
7 g
Protein
18 g
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