2736. MIGAS with BACON

serves two


1/2 lb. dense country bread, crusts left on
1/2 cup warm water
salt
1/2 teaspoon pimenton dulce (sweet paprika)
a pinch of pimenton picante (hot paprika); optional
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
5 garlic cloves
8 slices bacon

Cut the bread into very thin slices, less than 1/4-inch, and then into strips, and then into dice as small as a chickpea. Put them in a bowl. Mix the water with some salt and the pimenton (the hot one too, if you wish). Sprinkle this on the diced bread, turning it with your hands so that the pieces are evenly moistened. Leave for a few hours, or overnight, covered with a cloth.

When you are ready to eat, heat the oil in a large skillet (nonstick if you like). Fry the garlic and bacon over medium heat, turning them occasionally. Take out the garlic when it is golden brown and discard it; transfer the bacon to a plate when it is crisp and has released most of its fat. Throw the damp bread into the pan and fry over high heat for about 15 minutes, turning it over continually and breaking it up with a spatula into ever-smaller pieces, until the biggish crumbs are crisp, golden, and crunchy but still soft and slightly damp inside. The fat will be soaked up very quickly, but you can continue to cook, turning the crumbs in the dry pan.

Cut the bacon into small pieces and add them to the pan to heat through at the end.


bacon recipe courtesy of: The Food of Spain by Claudia Roden, 2010, p. 477