Old-School Pisto with Lacy Fried Egg

Method

1. Cut the onion, peppers and courgette into very even 1 cm dice and keep each in its own bowl. Mince the garlic. Halve the tomatoes, grate the cut sides and discard the skins. Set a sieve over a bowl, ready to drain the vegetables.

2. Put the grated tomato, bay leaf, sugar and the salt into a 18 cm saucepan and reduce over medium-low heat for 25 min, until roughly halved and thick enough that a spoon drawn across the bottom leaves a trail for a moment. Let it cook while you do the vegetables.

   Add in this stepRipe tomatoes 450 gBay leaf 1Sugar ½ tspSalt ¼ tsp

   medium-low heat

3. Heat the olive oil in a 24 cm frying pan over medium-low heat, add the onion, garlic and salt and cook slowly for 12 min, until pale golden and sweet. Lift them out with a slotted spoon into the sieve; pour any oil that drains off back into the pan.

   Add in this stepExtra virgin olive oil 30 mlOnion 1Garlic cloves 2Salt ¼ tsp

   medium-low heat

4. Add more olive oil to the same pan and cook the peppers with the salt over medium heat for 10 min, until soft with lightly charred edges. Lift into the sieve.

   Add in this stepExtra virgin olive oil 30 mlGreen bell pepper 1Red bell pepper ½Salt ¼ tsp

   medium heat

5. Add more olive oil, raise to medium-high heat and sauté the courgette with the salt for 5 min, until golden outside but still holding its shape, then lift out. If the pan is crowded, do it in two goes so it fries rather than stews.

   Add in this stepExtra virgin olive oil 20 mlCourgette (zucchini) 1Salt ¼ tsp

   medium-high heat

6. Remove the bay leaf from the sauce. Tip all the drained vegetables into the pan, pour over the tomato sauce and warm through gently over low heat for 6 min, folding carefully, until the vegetables are glossy with sauce. Taste for salt.

   low heat

7. Pour the remaining olive oil into a small pan and heat over medium-high heat until a cube of bread fizzes hard (about 180 °C). Crack each egg into a cup first, slide it in, tilt the pan and spoon hot oil over the white until the edges are crisp brown lace and the white is set, then lift out; allow about 3 min in total. Keep your face and arms back, as the oil spits. Toast the bread meanwhile.

   Add in this stepExtra virgin olive oil 20 mlEggs 2Slices of country bread 2

   medium-high heat

8. Spoon the pisto onto warm plates, top with the eggs and shave the Manchego over with a vegetable peeler. Serve with the toast for dipping into the yolk.

   Add in this stepManchego cheese (or another aged hard cheese) 30 g