I love making food from places I've visited, and the Basque country is no exception. Marmitako is a traditional Basque dish, that's made on the tuna fishing boats, whilst out at sea in the Bay of Biscay.
A Choricero pepper paste is used to give the stew a rich, earthy flavour However, my preference is to use Piment d'espelette, a Basque spice similar to paprika, but richer and more earthy. But if you can't source either then smoked paprika is a good alternative.
In an authentic recipe, the potatoes are snapped or broken, as this apparently lets the potatoes release more starch and hence helps thicken the stew. The images here show snapped potatoes, but it's rather time-consuming, and in my view, not essential.
I hope you like it, as much as we do!
Serves 3-4
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tuna steak per person
1 large white Spanish onion
3 peppers
3 large tomatoes
500g Maris Piper potatoes (or any other floury potato)
2 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of Choricero or Nora pepper paste (optional) OR
2 teaspoons of Piment d'espelette (or smoked paprika)
90ml dry white wine
350ml fish or vegetable stock
Fresh parsley
Method
- Top and tail, peel and dice the onion.
- Deseed the peppers and cut into medium-sized dice.
- Dice the tomatoes.
- Peel the potatoes and break (see Intro) or cut into cubes.
- Dice the tuna into bite-sized pieces.
- Heat the oil over a medium low heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and pepper and sauté until the onion is translucent.
- Add the garlic and Piment d'esplette and sauté for a couple of minutes, being careful not to let the garlic burn.
- Stir in the tomatoes, then pour in the wine and let it bubble away for a couple of minutes.
- Pour in the stock and then add the potatoes.
- Season and stir well to combine.
- Bring to a bubbling simmer, then reduce the heat. Note - Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the potatoes.
- When the potatoes are just tender, throw in the diced tuna and stir well. Simmer for 5 minutes then remove from the heat and cover for 5 more minutes.
- Finely chop the parsley.
- Serve the stew with parsley over the top and with a side of crusty white bread.
