Spanish marinated spicy pork (Picadillo)

Receta en español aquí

This is a Spanish recipe  from my mother-in-law to cook  spicy pork, full of flavor, tasty and easy. It is typical from Castilla y León, from where she is. 

You can only prepare this dish in winter, when it's cold,  because the meat needs to marinate with the spices,  out of the fridge in a cold place, around two days.

Spanish marinated spicy pork (Picadillo)

Ingredients (8 -10 servings)

1500 g pork ham 

1 ½ tablespoons hot Spanish paprika (cayenne)

2 ½ tablespoons sweet paprika

1 tablespoon oregano

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 cloves of garlic

Table salt to taste (I put half tablespoon)

Water

Amounts of each spice are orientative,   you can cook a little of picadillo to taste it, and rectify if necessary to get the right amount of spices.

Directions

Cut the meat into small and irregular pieces. Put in a pan, cover tightly  and set aside.

Peel the cloves of garlic and grind with a little salt in a pestle. Add a little water to remove the garlic from the mortar.

Sprinkle over the meat all the spices, salt and the garlic from mortar.

Knead well with your hands the meat with the spices.

Finally put together all the small pieces of meat in a tight ball.

Set aside the pan in the kitchen, well covered to avoid insects, and let it marinate around two days in a cold place (But not in the fridge, so picadillo only can be prepared in winter, when it's cold).

After two days the meat is full of flavor and you can cook it: stir fry in a skillet with a dash of olive oil until is done. I recommend to cook first a little of picadillo, taste it and rectify spices if necessary before cook all.

Serve immediately with salad and French fries. And enjoy.