Pintxos (Basque Style Tapas)
We like to aim for 3-4 pinxtos per person when we serve these as an appetizer.Yield: 27 pinxtos
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
- 2 French baguettes, approximately 2” in diameter, sliced 1” thick
- 27 small wooden skewers or toothpicks
For 9 smoked salmon pinxtos
- 1 (4 oz) package Lox-style smoked salmon (Usually found in the frozen specially seafood section of grocery stores.)
- 3 hard boiled eggs, sliced
For 9 tuna and roasted red pepper pinxtos
- 8 oz tuna, solid packed in water
- 2 red peppers, cut into thirds and seeded
- 9 Spanish olives
For 9 Manchego and roasted tomato pinxtos
- 3 oz Manchego cheese, sliced
- 9 cherry tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F. To roast the red peppers and cherry tomatoes, toss the pepper halves and tomatoes with 1 teaspoon olive oil and ⅛ teaspoon salt. Place the veggies on a aluminum foil lined baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes, or until soft and slightly charred. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- While the veggies are roasting, prepare your other ingredients and start assembling the salmon pinxtos by placing a hard boiled egg slice on top of a slice of baguette and topping the egg with a roll of lox. Use a wooden skewer to hold the ingredients in place.
- When the peppers have cooled slightly, cut the pieces so they will fit nicely on top of a baguette slice. Place a bit of tuna over the roasted pepper and top it off with an olive. These really need the skewer to make sure everything stays put!
- Once the tomatoes have cooled place a tomato on top of a slice of Manchego cheese on a baguette slice. Secure the tomatoes in place with a skewer.
- Serve the pinxtos immediately with glasses of South France wine!
Notes
Get creative with other topping combinations that you think your guests will like. Just remember to use flavorful, quality ingredients! We find that the key to great pinxtos is to make sure each skewer includes elements that are smooth/creamy, slightly sweet, and slightly salty. Have fun!