Spanish cachopo recipe

This cachopo recipe is one of the most typical dishes of Asturias. It competes with other delicious dishes of this autonomous community like fabes (bean stew) or arroz con leche (rice pudding). Restaurants fight to make the biggest and most original version of cachopo, since there is nothing written about the filling. That is why amongst the fillings we can find beef, peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, cecina (dried meat)… Size matters, and very much, in this dish. In fact, one can be eaten between two, three, or up to four people. Today we are going to prepare a delicious cachopo in which, as we have said, you can include other food if you like. The important thing is that it is well crusty on the outside and juicy on the inside. Shall we begin?

Ingredients:

  • 8 beef fillets (between 100 – 120 g very thin slices)
  • 4 slices of serrano ham
  • 8 slices of cheese
  • Pepper and salt
  • 100 g of flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 200 g of bread crumbs

Directions:

  1. Firstly, arrange all the ingredients on a table. In a dish add the flour, in another the bread crumbs, and in another the two beaten eggs. With this we will later make the batter. Set aside.
  2. Clean the corners of the fillets. With a mallet or wooden mortar, crush the meat to tenderise, flatten and slim it.
  3. Once we have the fillets ready, season them to taste. Then begin to add the fillings. On one of the meats, add a slice of serrano ham and a slice of cheese. Depending on personal preference, you can use several cheeses and make more layers.
  4. Cover with the other half of the fillet (we try to crush and clean them so that they are more or less the same size) and tighten at the edges so that the meat is well sealed and the inside is also closed.
  5. Repeat this with the other fillets.
  6. Let’s begin with the breading. Use flour so the egg adheres better to the meat. First cover the fillets with flour, then pass through the eggs and finally the breadcrumbs. In this step, we put pressure with our hands so that the breading is uniform. Try to keep the entire surface well covered. If necessary, pass the fillets through the eggs and the breadcrumbs once again.
  7. In a frying pan, pour a good amount of oil. Let it warm (not too much so it is in time to fry on the inside and melt the cheese on the inside), and add the cachopos. Two minutes for each side is enough for them to golden. If it’s not possible to do them in a single batch, ensure to remove the bread that is floating so that it does not stick to the following cachopos in the next batch.
  8. With the help of a slotted spoon, set aside on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Tips:

  • Roasted red peppers perfectly compliment this recipe. They can be included with the filling or on the outside.
  • It is also very typical to find it accompanied by cabrales cheese sauce (it is delicious).
Spanish cachopo
Now we can taste our delicious cachopos! | Shutterstock

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