Pork, Spanish Style - Pinchos Morunos

I know there is a lot of 'pork' and 'Spain' going on lately and it really is just coincidence rather than a deliberate attempt to hint at going to Spain on holiday (honestly!) I just adore Spanish food. That being the case I had all the necessary ingredients to create this dish, which I have taken from Modern Spanish Cooking by Sam and Eddie Hart. They explain that this is not the authentic Spanish Pinchos Morunos, as there is a distinct lack of skewers and the pork is left in quite chunky portions.

Unfortunately, this recipe does require a little forethought, being that 24 hours of marinating is required to flavour the pork. If you are in Spain (or anywhere that isn't the UK, probably) then you will be easily able to buy good quality flavoursome pork that will suck up the marinade and be extremely tasty. However, living in the UK means dodgy, mostly flavourless pork unless you seek out rare breed stuff, so my advice would be buy the best pork fillet you can and add salt to the marinade, as the pork will taste of very little otherwise.

I adore my griddle, and it is perfect for cooking this dish. I loved the way the smell of garlic and oregano and cumin wafted through the house as the meat was cooking. The barbecue would also be an excellent place to cook this too, should we have anything resembling barbecue weather. I imagine you could also cook the meat under the grill, though it may take longer.

Lola and Finn gave this one the thumbs up, particularly Finn, who is the resident meat eater, often picking through the other ingredients to get to the bits he really likes. It's not too spicy and does have a flavour which is not overbearing. Plus, if you don't overcook the meat and allow it to rest appropriately, it is succulent and juicy. Lovely stuff!

Pinchos Morunos, taken from Modern Spanish Cooking, by Sam and Eddie Hart

Serves Mum, Dad, Lola and Finn

Ingredients:

800g pork fillet (the best you can find)

75ml light olive oil

1 tsp smoked paprika

1tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 head of garlic, separated into cloves, peeled, then smashed

11/2 tsp salt and  1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Method:

Trim up the pork, removing any sinew or fat and then cut into equal sections.

In a non reactive bowl or plastic tub, place the meat and then add the rest of the ingredients, mixing it evenly with your hands and rubbing it all over the pork.

Cover the bowl with cling film and place it in the fridge for 24 hours, remembering every so often to turn the pork in the marinade.

Heat your griddle, or light your barbecue, or turn on your grill.

Remove the pork from the marinade and strain the liquor. Set aside.

Cook the pork for about 10 minutes or so, turning the meat every couple of minutes or so to ensure even cooking, and basting with the strained marinade liquor every so often.

When cooked, transfer to a warm platter or carefully cover in foil and place in a very low oven to allow the meat to rest. I left it for 10 minutes.

I served this with some sauteed Mediterranean vegetables and some steamed new potatoes with parsley and it was good. Very good. Don't forget the Rioja, obligatory in this house whenever something Spanish is on the menu. Magnífico!