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Pork, Piquillo, and Cheese Canapés

You can use leftover pork (or any meat, really), for these canapés, because its flavor is not the most important thing here. What is important are the piquillos and the manchego. Without these the dish has no authenticity. That said, this is a great basic recipe combining meat, cheese, and pepper, and you can substitute for any of them—I especially like this with a bit of chorizo and a strong blue cheese. If you start with raw pork tenderloin, cut it into 4 slices and brown it in a little olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes per side.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients

12 to 16 slices baguette or other narrow, crusty loaf
1/4 pound cooked pork tenderloin, cut into 12 to 16 thin slices
Salt and black pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
12 to 16 small slices manchego or other firm sheep’s milk cheese
6 to 8 piquillo peppers, cut in half lengthwise

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Toast the bread lightly. Put a piece of pork on each piece of bread. Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper and drizzle it with a few drops of olive oil.

    Step 2

    Top with a piece of cheese and a piquillo half. Skewer with a toothpick and serve within 30 minutes.

The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved. MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.
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