Pisto

I'm sure you've heard of Ratatouille many times. It's a delicious heartwarming meal and there's a lovely movie inspired by it. Today, I want to bring to you what we could call the Spanish version of Ratatouille, Pisto. 

Pisto is one of those essential dishes in many Spanish homes. Every family has their own version. And for this reason, it can be hard to pinpoint what is the original or "authentic" version of it. 

You'll find a lot of different recipes in the internet. It can be a bit overwhelming to decide which one to make. Here we have a very simple one made from ingredients you can either get at your local market but that you most likely already have in you kitchen. 

The base of this super healthy meal is what we love the most, vegetables. To add flavour and that hearty feel to it we are using aromatic herbs that will invade your home as soon as they touch the pan. 

In the many different versions of this recipe, you will often see it made with onions, eggplant, green and red peppers and tomatoes. But the options are endless, don't feel you are limited or restricted to those ingredients. For this recipe, we are using tomatoes, onions, potatoes, red bell pepper and zucchini. 

These veggies are some of my favourites and together they make a little power-bomb of nutrients. We are using just a little bit of olive oil to sauté the veggies, so this recipe is free of saturated fats and cholesterol. We will end up with a very healthy and nurturing dish in our hands. 

Here at vegan.io, we love recipes that make it is easy to switch things up a little bit. But that don't alter the overall result all that much. Pisto is that kind of meal, it is very easy and convenient to make. You can use what you already have or the veggies you and your family prefer.

When I first made Pisto, I used some leftover veggies I had in my kitchen. We don't like throwing food away. But sometimes it might seem there's not much to do with half a zucchini and two potatoes. Well, this recipe is perfect for that. You can make as little or as much as you want just by adjusting the amounts a bit.

Pisto is usually served as a starter dish but you will also see it as a main. For this reason, a lot of people like to add an egg or two to cover their protein needs. Instead of the egg I opted for quinoa. A little extra that will bump up the protein in our dish and will make it a lot more filling. 

Pisto is definitely a recipe to write down in your cookbook. It's a very easy and affordable way to load up on veggies and get your daily dose of nutrients. Serve it warm, straight out of the pan to get the most out of this delicious and heartwarming dish.