Pisto Manchego, Spain’s Answer To Ratatouille

IN the kitchens of a trendy Madrid dinner theater called Florida Retiro, chef Joaquin Felipe introduced us to pisto manchego, a colorful combination of sautéed summer vegetables that is Spain’s answer to French ratatouille.

The fresh taste of the vegetables had come through — finely chopped bell peppers, tomato, onion, eggplant and zucchini, each ingredient still intact. The fruitiness of good olive oil acted as a binder without producing a greasy porridge. And the buttery, grassy flavor of curls of manchego cheese elevated this dish above a mere side. Simply delicious.

For the version in our book “Milk Street Tuesday Nights,” we suggest topping it with a poached or fried egg for a quick but tasty main course.

The flavorful tomato juices make crusty bread almost obligatory, but the dish also would pair wonderfully with rice or a baked potato. We liked the effect of using one red and