This is a dish that I ate innumerable times in Spain. Whatever the restaurant, some version of this menu was almost sure to be on the menu. Although the ingredients and proportions would vary with the cook, artichokes, string beans, and peas appear to be essential and always, always olive oil. Here is a version hearty enough to serve as a main course, preceded by a Spanish tortilla or garlic soup and followed by fresh fruit and cheese.
Serves 6 to 8
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic
• ½ lb. yellow onions (about 2 medium-sized)
• 1 lb. small white potatoes
• ¾ lb. carrots
• ¾ lb. string beans
• 6 Tbs. olive oil
• ½ lb. mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon . salt
• 2 Tbs. sweet paprika
• fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 3 cups peeled, chopped tomatoes (with their liquid)
• 2 bay leaves
• pinch of hot paprika
• ½ lb. fresh asparagus
• ½ lb. cooked artichoke bottoms
• 2 cups shelled green peas
• garnish
• ripe green olives and
• quartered hard-boiled eggs
1. Peel and thinly slice the garlic. Peel, halve, and thickly slice the onions and the potatoes. Scrape the carrots and cut them in ½-inch lengths. Trim the string beans and cut them in 1-inch-long pieces.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and sauté the garlic and onions in it until the onions are transparent. Add the potatoes, carrots, and string beans and sauté them for 10 minutes, stirring almost constantly.
3. Wash and trim the mushrooms and add them to the pot along with the salt, sweet paprika, and some fresh-ground pepper. Continue sautéing the vegetables for 5 minutes more, stirring constantly, then add the vegetable broth, tomatoes, bay leaves, and a pinch of hot paprika.
4. Simmer the mixture, uncovered, over low heat for 45 to 50 minutes. Stir it occasionally.
5. Peel the bottom ends of the asparagus stalks and cut the stalks in 1- to 2-inch pieces. Thickly slice the artichoke bottoms. Add the peas, asparagus, and artichoke bottoms to the menestra and simmer it, covered, stirring often, for 10 to 15 minutes more, or just until all the vegetables are tender. The liquid should be greatly reduced by this time.
6. Serve the menestra hot and garnish each plate with a quartered hard-boiled egg and a few ripe green olives.
