Piperrada Vasca

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 green Italian frying peppers, deseeded and cut into strips
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 500 g ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 tsp sweet pimentón
• 1 pinch of dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 8 thin slices Bayonne ham or jamón serrano
• Salt and black pepper
• 4 thick slices country bread, toasted

Before you cook

• Slice the onions thinly and cut all the peppers into finger-width strips.
• Peel the tomatoes by scoring a cross in the base and dipping them in boiling water for thirty seconds, then chop them roughly.
• Slice the garlic and measure out the pimentón and chilli.

Steps

1. Warm the olive oil in a wide heavy frying pan over low heat.
2. Add the sliced onions with a good pinch of salt and cook them for ten minutes until translucent and floppy.
3. Add all the pepper strips and the sliced garlic, and cook for a further twenty minutes over low heat, stirring every few minutes.
4. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, the sugar and a pinch of salt, and let everything simmer for fifteen minutes until the mixture is jammy and no longer watery.
5. Pull the pan off the heat, stir in the pimentón and chilli flakes so they bloom without scorching, then taste and adjust the salt.
6. Return the pan to a low heat and make four hollows in the vegetables with the back of a spoon.
7. Crack an egg into each hollow and grind a little black pepper over them.
8. Cover the pan and cook for five to six minutes, until the whites are just set and the yolks still move when you shake the pan.
9. Lay two slices of ham over each portion so the heat softens them.
10. Serve straight from the pan with the toasted country bread for mopping.