Pisto de Murcia: the smoky variation

Ingredients

• 3 ñora peppers, dried, soaked in hot water 30 minutes, flesh scraped from skin, skin discarded
• 1 aubergine, cut into dice
• 1 courgette, cut into dice
• 500 g ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• olive oil, for frying

Method

1. 1
   Place the dried ñora peppers in a bowl. Cover with hot water and leave to soak for 30 minutes. When soft and yielding, lift them out, split each one open, and scrape the flesh from the interior surface with a spoon. Discard the skins entirely. The scraped flesh should be a dark, rust-coloured paste — set it aside.
2. 2
   Warm a generous film of olive oil in a wide, heavy pan over a low-to-medium flame. Add the onion and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until it is completely soft and beginning to colour — 15 to 20 minutes. Add the ñora flesh and stir it into the softened onion. This is the sofrito base. This is where the dish lives or dies: the ñora must cook slowly into the oil for at least 30 minutes in total — only prolonged, gentle heat develops the sweet, smoky complexity that defines the Murcian version; anything less and the character of the pepper does not emerge.
3. 3
   Add the aubergine, the firmest vegetable, to the sofrito base. Stir to coat thoroughly in the oil. Cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the aubergine begins to soften and take on colour — 10 to 15 minutes.
4. 4
   Add the courgette. Continue cooking over a low heat, stirring from time to time, until the courgette is tender and beginning to collapse — a further 10 minutes.
5. 5
   Add the tomatoes. Stir everything together and continue to cook, uncovered, over a low heat for a further 20 to 30 minutes. The pisto is ready when every vegetable has completely surrendered — there should be no resistance, and the mass should be unified, deep in colour, and fragrant with the smoky sweetness of the ñora.