Introduction and Overview
“Cachopo” is a popular dish that is made from potatoes, green peppers, cecina, and onions. Using a food processor can make the preparation a little quicker, but it is a simple recipe that you can make easily in a blender, too. In Spain, they call veal meat cecina if it is salted and dried by smoke, air, or Sun. Discover the Cachopo recipe for this delicious dish. Let’s get started.
Prep Time
10 Mins
Resting Time
0 Mins
Cooking Time
30 Mins
Total Time
40 Mins
Serving
2
Course
Lunch
Cuisine
Spanish
Calories
360 cal
Ingredients
- 2 thin beef fillets
- Sliced cheese
- 4 slices of Serrano Ham
- 2 beaten eggs
- Bread crumbs
- Virgin or extra virgin olive oil
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Fryinpan or paella pan for frying
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: We prepare the meat for the cachopo
We take the veal fillets and palm them a little (with a special mallet to break the fibers of the meat and make it finer). If the fillets are small, you can ask the butcher to cut them thicker, and then open them like a little book. We spread one of them well on our board.
Step 2: How to stuff a cachopo
Put some slices of Serrano ham on top, occupying the entire surface; In this case, we have needed 4 slices. We cover the Serrano ham with cheese, you can put the one you like the most. Cover with the other fillet. We have not put salt on the ham.
Step 3: Battered veal cachopo
We go through breadcrumbs; If you notice that your fillets are very large and they come apart when handling it, you can put toothpicks on the sides. Then pass it through the beaten egg and again through breadcrumbs.
Step 4: How to fry the Asturian cachopo
To fry it we have done it in a large low saucepan, you can even use a paella pan. The oil should not be very hot, we put the fire at medium temperature. In this way, they will not be very golden on the outside and raw on the inside.
Now we only have to serve it, remember to remove the chopsticks!, and enjoy this delicious and traditional Asturian cachopo.
Tips for making Asturian cachopo
Veal meat
- We are going to choose some tender veal fillets, of good quality. We are going to clean them well of the finite fat on the sides so that the fillets do not shrink during cooking. In Asturias, the size of the cachopos is presumed: the bigger, the better. So we can ask the butcher to cut the fillets like little books, that is, opening them in half, so that they are larger.
- Another trick to make the veal cachopo tender: we are going to flatten them with a mallet or with the blade of a knife so that they are finer and more tender. In addition, in this way we soften the meat and it will be easier to mount the cachopos.
- Although veal cachopo is the typical Asturian recipe, it is currently also prepared with chicken, or fish.
The stuffing of the cachopo
- Today they are prepared with a wide variety of different fillings: cheeses, mushrooms, seafood, vegetables, etc. We have prepared the classic, with Serrano ham and cheese. The cheese can be the one you like the most.
The perfect breading and frying of the Asturian cachopo
- For the breading, as we have seen, we pass first through breadcrumbs, to seal the filling, then through egg and again through breadcrumbs. We can replace the first pass of breadcrumbs with flour, it helps the cheese not escape. You can batter twice, if you like the bread layer to be thicker.
- As for the frying, we are going to choose an oil with a high smoke point, such as extra virgin olive oil, which is the most suitable for frying. We are going to use a wide frying pan where the cachopo fits perfectly without bending, and add enough oil to cover it. The temperature should not be too high so that the cachopo does not burn on the outside and remain raw on the inside. We put the medium fire, and when the oil is hot, fry for 2 or 3 minutes per side.
- Remove and place on absorbent paper to remove excess oil.
Watch the YouTube video to see the cachopo recipe in action.
Helping Video about Cachopo Recipe
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Asturian Cachopo, review of its history
The Asturian cachopo does not have a clear origin. Supposedly it was born in the homes of the Principality to take advantage of the basic ingredients of the cuisine of this region. Specifically, they are two Asturian beef fillets stuffed with ham and cheese and coated in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs. The Asturian cachopo is accompanied by a garnish of potatoes, peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, and other products from the Asturian garden. The combinations are multiple. There are those who prefer to coat them only in egg, others remove the flour. There are those who sew it with strong thread so that it does not open or those who prefer to bread them. Those who accompany them with a large garnish and those who limit themselves to accompanying it with French fries. There is something for everyone.
Let’s go back to the first cachopo that jumped from the stoves of the Asturian kitchens to a restaurant, of course, Asturian. The El Pelayo restaurant, in Oviedo, the family business where the famous chef Fernando Martín began his first steps. Who later won the National Gastronomy Award, was distinguished with a Michelin Star and ran such well-known establishments as the Trascorrales Restaurant, the Bocamar, and the Raitan.
In the sixties-seventies of the last century, Martín recovered a recipe from his grandmother, Henerina, and included it in the El Pelayo menu. It was a hearty beef fillet weighing a kilo and a half, stuffed with frixuelo, Serrano ham, York ham, cheese, and asparagus, served with a chicken and rabbit broth sauce.
In addition to El Pelayo, the cachopos also achieved great fame in Asturias, served in the dining room of ‘Los González’, also in Oviedo, and in establishments in the neighboring council. And without going into purism about the ingredients it should contain, what is clear is that the Asturian cachopo has to be large, forceful, and, above all, tasty.
And so it continues to be today, already in the 21st century, when it has jumped the limits of the Principality, and now this stuffed Asturian beef fillet is known and appreciated outside the region. To the point that many people visit the Principality of Asturias with the sole objective of trying the Asturian cachopos. Or gastronomic contests are held around this dish, such as the one organized by the Diario El Comercio to distinguish the Best Cachopo in Asturias.
Another curiosity: its name. ‘Cachopu’ is, in Asturian, the trunk of an old tree that is hollow or rotten inside. Perhaps the name of this stuffed and breaded fillet may be due to its similarity to these old logs, due to its color and size. Although, as in the case of its historical origin, the origin of its name is not clear either.
See another version about cachopo history.
That was the tasty and my Cachopo Recipe. Try this at home today for your kids for the lunch. Do not forget to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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