Chef Isabel
Asadillo Manchego
Asadillo Manchego is La Mancha's roasted pepper salad: red peppers, tomato, olive oil, garlic, and cumin, pounded plainly and served with egg, warm or cold.
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Ensalada Ilustrada Aragonesa
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Ensalada Ilustrada is Aragón's dressed-up green salad: crisp leaves covered with tuna, egg, white asparagus, roasted pepper, and black olives, then dressed simply so every good conserva tastes like itself.
Salads
Spanish
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
10 min cook•35 min total
Yield4 servings
Ensalada Ilustrada is Aragón's dressed-up salad, a bed of crisp lettuce made generous with tuna in olive oil, hard-boiled egg, white asparagus, roasted pepper, olives, and a plain oil-and-vinegar dressing. The name means illustrated, and it earns it: the green salad is not buried or chopped small. It is set out with its good things plainly on top, the way a shared platter should be.
The step that decides it is water. Wash the lettuce, then dry it properly; drain the asparagus, pepper, and tuna until they stop weeping into the plate. A dressed-up salad can still be a soggy salad if you hurry. Dry leaves take the vinaigrette. Wet leaves give you a puddle at the bottom.
For the right taste, buy the good pantry things: bonito del norte if you can, white asparagus from a jar or tin, roasted red pepper with some flesh to it, and black olives de Aragón, Empeltre if they cross your path. No hace falta haber pisado España. Oil-packed tuna works, any firm jarred white asparagus works, and green asparagus, blanched and cooled, will do when it must, though it eats fresher and less soft than the conserva.
Keep the dressing sharp and simple: red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt. No mayonnaise, no sweet bottled dressing, no heap of every jar in the cupboard. My Margin says only: dry first, dress last. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Ensalada ilustrada belongs to Aragón's home and fonda table, especially the Ebro valley habit of setting preserved vegetables, fish conservas, egg, and olives over simple greens when a plain salad needed to feed company. The name ilustrada means the salad has been "illustrated" or dressed up, often with white asparagus and roasted peppers from the wider Ebro pantry, bonito or tuna from the tin, and black Empeltre olives from Bajo Aragón. It shows the region's practical abundance: fresh lettuce where the season gives it, and the preserving shelf doing the rest.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large eggs
Quantity
2
crisp lettuce, preferably romaine or sweet leaf lettuce
Quantity
300g
washed and dried very well
ripe tomato (optional)
Quantity
200g
cut into wedges
sweet onion, preferably Cebolla de Fuentes
Quantity
60g
thinly sliced
bonito del norte or tuna in olive oil
Quantity
160g
drained in large flakes, oil reserved if good
white asparagus spears
Quantity
150g
drained
roasted red pepper strips
Quantity
150g
drained
black olives de Aragón or other good black olives
Quantity
60g
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
60ml
red wine vinegar
Quantity
20ml
fine sea salt
Quantity
5g, plus more to finish
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large eggs | 2 |
| crisp lettuce, preferably romaine or sweet leaf lettucewashed and dried very well | 300g |
| ripe tomato (optional)cut into wedges | 200g |
| sweet onion, preferably Cebolla de Fuentesthinly sliced | 60g |
| bonito del norte or tuna in olive oildrained in large flakes, oil reserved if good | 160g |
| white asparagus spearsdrained | 150g |
| roasted red pepper stripsdrained | 150g |
| black olives de Aragón or other good black olives | 60g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 60ml |
| red wine vinegar | 20ml |
| fine sea salt | 5g, plus more to finish |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan
- •Salad spinner or clean kitchen towel
- •Wide serving platter
- •Small bowl or jar for dressing
Instructions
- 1
Cook the eggs
Put the eggs in a small saucepan and cover with cold water by 2cm. Bring to a boil, lower to a steady simmer, and cook 10 minutes. Cool in cold water, peel, and cut each egg into quarters. Salt the cut sides lightly.
- 2
Dry the leaves
Wash the lettuce, spin it dry, then spread it on a clean towel and pat until no water beads on the leaves. Tear it into generous pieces. This is the step that decides the salad: vinaigrette clings to dry leaves, while wet leaves give you a puddle at the bottom.
Bagged lettuce still needs drying. Open the bag, spread the leaves out, and give them the same care. - 3
Drain the conservas
Drain the tuna, asparagus, and roasted pepper well. Pat the asparagus and pepper with a towel so they don't water down the dressing. Flake the tuna in large pieces, halve the asparagus lengthwise if the spears are thick, and keep the pepper in broad strips. If the tomato is ripe enough to use, salt the wedges and let them sit 5 minutes.
- 4
Make the dressing
Whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, and 5g salt until glossy. If the tuna was packed in good olive oil, replace 15ml of the measured olive oil with that reserved oil. Taste it on a lettuce leaf; it should be bright enough to stand up to the egg and tuna.
- 5
Build the platter
Toss the lettuce, onion, and tomato if using with half the dressing, then spread them on a wide platter. Arrange the tuna, egg, asparagus, roasted pepper, and olives over the top in loose bands, not chopped through the leaves. Spoon over the remaining dressing and serve at once, or within 20 minutes. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Chef Tips
- •Use lettuce with backbone. Romaine is the easiest choice far from Aragón because it stays crisp under the tuna, egg, and asparagus. Tender leaves are fine, but dry them twice and dress them at the last moment.
- •Cebolla de Fuentes, the sweet onion from Zaragoza, is right here because it gives bite without harshness. If you can't find it, use a mild white onion and soak the slices in cold water for 10 minutes, then dry them well.
- •White asparagus from a jar or tin is not a lesser thing here; it is part of the dish. If all you have is green asparagus, blanch it until just tender, cool it fast, and know the salad will taste fresher and less soft.
- •Use black olives de Aragón, Empeltre if possible. Skip sweet canned black olive rings. They taste of the tin and they make the platter look like it forgot where it came from.
- •Tomato belongs only when it is ripe enough to eat with salt and oil. If it is pale and hard, leave it out and let the roasted pepper do the sweet work.
Advance Preparation
- •Cook the eggs up to 2 days ahead and keep them peeled or unpeeled in the refrigerator.
- •Wash and dry the lettuce up to 1 day ahead; wrap it in a clean towel and keep it cold so it stays crisp.
- •Drain the tuna, asparagus, and peppers up to 4 hours ahead. Keep the components separate and covered, then dress and assemble just before serving.
- •Do not dress the salad ahead. The leaves soften quickly, and an ensalada ilustrada should arrive crisp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 315g)
Calories
300 calories
Total Fat
21 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
105 mg
Sodium
1080 mg
Total Carbohydrates
10 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
18 g
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