Pisto manchego: La Mancha's vegetable stew

La Mancha, Spain

The vegetable stew of La Mancha — tomato, courgette, red and green pepper, onion, and garlic cooked long in olive oil until everything collapses and integrates. Pisto is not a ratatouille (though they share an origin and technique), and not a simple sauté — it requires a long, slow cook of 45-60 minutes on a low heat until the vegetables have surrendered all their liquid and concentrated to a jammy, sweet, deeply flavoured whole. It is then served as a tapa, as a base for eggs (pisto con huevos), or alongside fried or grilled meats. The Don Quixote connection is real: the dish appears in Cervantes' novel and is one of the dishes most associated with the Castilian interior.

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