Chef Isabel
Asadillo Manchego
Asadillo Manchego is La Mancha's roasted pepper salad: red peppers, tomato, olive oil, garlic, and cumin, pounded plainly and served with egg, warm or cold.
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Zorongollo Extremeño
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Zorongollo Extremeño is Extremadura's roasted pepper salad: red peppers and tomatoes charred whole, peeled warm, cut into strips, and left to settle with garlic, oil, vinegar, onion, and hard egg.
Salads
Spanish
Make Ahead
Outdoor Dining
Budget Friendly
20 min
Active Time
40 min cook•2 hr total
Yield4 servings
Zorongollo Extremeño belongs to Extremadura, and it is not the Murcian zarangollo with courgette and egg, no matter how close the names sound. This one is a summer salad of roasted red peppers and tomatoes, peeled warm, torn or cut into strips, and dressed simply with garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt, onion, and hard-boiled egg. The sweetness comes from fire and rest, not from adding things.
The method that decides it is the peeling while the peppers are still warm. Roast them until the skins blister and blacken in places, then cover them so they sweat. That little rest loosens the skin and keeps the flesh soft and glossy. Peel them over a bowl, because the juice that runs out is part of the dressing. Throw that away and the salad tastes thinner.
If you are far from Extremadura, use the best thick red bell peppers you can find, ripe tomatoes in season, and a good sherry vinegar. If the tomatoes are poor, roast only the peppers and add a little more pepper juice to the dressing; sad tomatoes do not improve a salad by being included. No hace falta haber pisado España. Let it sit at least an hour before serving. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Zorongollo is rooted in Extremadura's summer cooking, especially the pepper country around La Vera, where roasting peppers over embers gave a household a salad that could be eaten cool with bread, egg, and whatever the day allowed. Its name is often confused with zarangollo murciano, but the dishes are not neighbors in method: Murcia cooks courgette and onion with egg, while Extremadura dresses roasted peppers and tomato after the fire. The resting of the peeled peppers in their own juices is not decoration; it comes from a practical kitchen where every sweet drop from the roast was kept.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
red bell peppers
Quantity
800g
about 4 large, ripe and heavy
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
500g
about 3 medium
large eggs
Quantity
2
spring onion or mild white onion
Quantity
80g
thinly sliced
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
finely grated or pounded
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
60ml
vinagre de Jerez (sherry vinegar)
Quantity
15ml
plus more to taste
fine sea salt
Quantity
6g
plus more for the eggs
flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| red bell peppersabout 4 large, ripe and heavy | 800g |
| ripe tomatoesabout 3 medium | 500g |
| large eggs | 2 |
| spring onion or mild white onionthinly sliced | 80g |
| garlic clovesfinely grated or pounded | 2 |
| extra virgin olive oil | 60ml |
| vinagre de Jerez (sherry vinegar)plus more to taste | 15ml |
| fine sea saltplus more for the eggs | 6g |
| flat-leaf parsley (optional)chopped | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Rimmed baking tray
- •Covered bowl or lidded container
- •Small mortar or fine grater
- •Shallow serving dish
Instructions
- 1
Boil the eggs
Put the eggs in a small pan, cover with cold water, add a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes, then cool in cold water. Peel and cut into quarters or thick slices. Set them aside; they go on at the end so they stay clean and whole.
- 2
Roast the vegetables
Heat the oven to 220C, or use a grill or live flame if you have one. Put the peppers and tomatoes on a tray and roast, turning now and then, until the pepper skins blister and blacken in patches and the tomatoes slump, 30 to 40 minutes. The peppers should feel soft all the way through, not just scorched outside.
- 3
Sweat and peel
Move the hot peppers to a covered bowl and leave them 15 minutes. This is the step that makes the salad: the skins loosen, the flesh relaxes, and the juice gathers. Peel the peppers over the bowl so you keep every drop. Peel the tomatoes too, discard the pepper seeds and stems, and save the roasting juices.
- 4
Cut into strips
Cut or tear the peeled peppers into long strips, about 1cm wide. Roughly chop the peeled tomatoes. Put both in a shallow serving dish with 3 tablespoons of the saved roasting juices. If any skin clings stubbornly, leave the tiny bit rather than washing the pepper under water. Water steals the flavour you worked for.
- 5
Dress and rest
Pound or grate the garlic with the salt, then stir in the vinegar and olive oil. Pour this over the peppers and tomatoes, add the sliced onion, and turn everything gently with your hands or two spoons. Rest at room temperature for 1 hour, or chill and bring back toward room temperature before serving. The oil turns red-gold and the garlic settles into the sweet pepper juice.
- 6
Finish with egg
Taste the salad before serving and correct the salt or vinegar. Lay the hard-boiled egg on top and add parsley if you use it. Serve with bread for the juices. Tal como se hace allí, it should look simple, glossy, and a little untidy from the roast.
Chef Tips
- •Buy heavy red peppers with thick walls. Thin peppers roast quickly but give little flesh, and this dish is about soft strips of pepper, not skins and dressing.
- •Make this when tomatoes are worth eating raw. If they are pale and hard, leave them out and make a pepper-only zorongollo with a little more saved roasting juice. Better honest peppers than bad tomatoes pretending to help.
- •Jarred roasted peppers are allowed when the market gives you nothing better, but choose Spanish piquillo or good whole roasted peppers in their own juice, not vinegar-packed strips. Drain them, keep a little of their liquor, and know the salad will be softer and less smoky.
- •Resting is not optional. One hour is good, three is better. Straight after dressing, the garlic sits on top of everything; after resting, it belongs to the salad.
Advance Preparation
- •Roast and peel the peppers and tomatoes up to 24 hours ahead; keep them covered with their juices in the refrigerator.
- •Dress the salad at least 1 hour before serving so the garlic, vinegar, oil, and pepper juices settle together.
- •Add the hard-boiled egg just before serving, or up to 2 hours ahead if the salad will sit covered and cool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 330g)
Calories
230 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
95 mg
Sodium
700 mg
Total Carbohydrates
17 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
11 g
Protein
5 g
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