Migas recipe, a trendy Spanish traditional dish
A dish which has been always in the traditional cookbooks in Spain
Now it is a trendy dish which link us with the ancient Spanish cookery
Migas is just stale bread. Something so simple that is delicious. It was the dish that shephers cooked while they were herding. They had just bread, a few cloves of garlic and lard.
Now, migas are cooked with more ingredients to enhance the flavour but keeping the traditional way to make it.
In Spain, as in most of the places, gastronomy is linked to ancient traditions. In my family town, migas are associated with a middle age custom that we celebrate the first Sunday of July. It is named Quililay. This tradition comes from 1515 when a drought devastated the region. The inhabitants decided to go on a pilgrimage to mountain Moncayo, in Aragón, and ask the Virgin Mary for rainfall. The canons of the cathedral decided to give them a permanent authorization. Since then, every year hundreds of people gather in Moncayo where the council and the canons give the pilgrims migas.
To remember this tradition, I have made up my dad’ s migas recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
INGREDIENTS (for 12 people)
1 kg. stale bread
2 green peppers
2 ripe tomatoes
1 onion
6 cloves of garlic
½ ring of chorizo
100 grams Pancetta
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
(Amounts depend on your taste)
STEP BY STEP
Shred the stale bread with a knife or a grinder the day before to cook the migas.
Moisten the shredded bread with a bit of water and keep it in a plastic container overnight.
Chop the green peppers, the tomatoes and the onion.
Slice the chorizo and cut the pancetta.
In a big frying pan, pour a gentle glug of extra virgin olive oil. Cook the green peppers in a low heat. When they become soft, add the tomatoes and the onion and simmer. Season it with a pinch of salt.
Once the vegetables are cooked, add the cloves of garlic (with the peel they are tastier) and stir until the cloves of garlic get soft. Then, add the chorizo and the pancetta until cooking.
Add the shredded bread to the frying pan with the vegetables and the meat and toss during 10 minutes roughly (the bread should give away the humidity and takes up the olive oil but don’t fry it too much as it mustn’t be crunch).
Serve it on a hot plate with grapes. (Modern versions add a fried egg, slices of ham or even grated micuit on top the migas).
