Blistered Shishito Peppers

Blistered Padrón Peppers (pimientos de Padrón) are one of my all-time favorite tapas. When we were in Spain I had them every chance I could!

Amazing how something so simple, can be so tasty!

Padrón Peppers come from municipality of Padrón in Galicia, in the northwest part of Spain.

The bad news is they are hard to come by here in Toronto. The good news is Shishito peppers work just as well and are more readily available here.

Padrón and Shisheto peppers are from the same cultivar, Shisheto peppers are the East Asian variety of the cultivar.

Both are small, bright green, thin skinned peppers. Most are mild, but watch out, every now and then you’ll bite into one that is surprisingly hot!

To make them at home all you need is the peppers, olive oil, and course salt.

You can do cook them in a hot pan or directly on a hot grill. If you have a plancha, all the better!

If cooking in a pan, heat a tbsp of olive oil to just smoking and add the peppers. If cooking on a grill toss the peppers in some olive oil to coat. and place on the hot grill. Either method, cook, tossing or turning, until the peppers are blistered, and the flesh is soft. About 3-4 minutes.

Transfer the peppers to a dish, sprinkle with coarse salt, and eat!