Basque Pintxo Recipes for Basque Style Tapas for Easy Entertaining

Basque Snacks Recipes for Basque Style Tapas Called Pintxos or Pinchos. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

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Basque Pintxo Recipes for Basque Style Tapas for Easy Entertaining

Our Basque pintxos recipe makes Basque snacks called ‘pintxos’ in Basque or ‘pinchos’ in Spanish. Pronounced ‘peen-chos’ and offered in bars in Spain’s Basque Country, most famously in the city of San Sebastian, pintxos are often likened to Spanish tapas but are more like Italian crostini. Easy to make, these Basque snacks are perfect for easy entertaining and casual gatherings.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: snacks, appetisers

Cuisine: Basque, Spanish

Servings: Pieces

Calories: 261kcal

Author: Lara Dunston

Ingredients

2 French baguettes
1 cup extra virgin olive oil divided

Red Capsicum, Tapenade, Basil

1 red capsicum trimmed, deseeded, halved
100 g olive tapenade
½ cup fresh basil leaves

Hummus, Savoury Mince, Mint

100 g ground beef
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp baharat spice mix
100 g hummus
12 sprigs fresh mint

Pesto, Rucola, Parmesan, Pine Nuts

100 g basil pesto
2 cups rucola arugula/rocket
50 g Parmigiano Reggiano
50 g pine nuts

Cream Cheese, Anchovies and Chives

100 g Philadelphia cream cheese
4 anchovies
4 garlic chives finely sliced

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Heat your oven to 220°C, line a baking tray with aluminium foil, lay out the red capsicum halves, pour the cup of extra virgin olive oil into a bowl, and use a silicon pastry brush to coat the capsicum halves in oil.
Slide the tray into the oven, roast the red capsicum until charred, remove the tray, and set them aside to cool. When cool, remove the blackened skins by rubbing it with a paper kitchen towel, then slice into thin strips.
While the capsicums are roasting, in a small pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil and fry the ground beef and teaspoon of baharat spice mix, using a fork to separate the minced meat and ensure the spices are incorporated. When cooked, set aside.
Prepare your baguettes: slice them on an angle for a larger surface area, cutting them to a thickness of 2cm. For crunchy texture (good for stale bread), lay the slices out on an oven tray, slide it into the oven, brown one side, turn them over, brown the other side; brush them with extra virgin olive oil, then set them aside. Otherwise (best for fresh bread), toast the slices in a toaster, brush them with extra virgin olive oil, and lay them out on a platter or small plates and set aside.
For the capsicum, tapenade and basil pintxos, generously spread the olive tapenade onto four toasted baguette slices, lay down the roasted red capsicum slices and garnish with fresh basil leaves.
For the hummus, mince and mint pintxos, spread the hummus onto four toasted baguette slices, spoon on generous scoops of spiced beef, and garnish with fresh mint sprigs
For the pesto, rucola, parmesan, and pine nut pintxos, spread the four toasted baguette slices with basil pesto, pile on some rucola (arugula/rocket) leaves, grate some Parmigiano Reggiano on top, and sprinkle on some pine nuts.
For the cream cheese, anchovies and chives pintxos, spread Philadelphia cream cheese generously onto four toasted baguette slices, lay an anchovy or two on top and sprinkle with finely sliced garlic chives.

Nutrition