Axoa

A delicious meat pan from the Basque Country, which gets its kick from the tasty, aromatic Espelette chilli pepper. Axoa is available in all kinds of varieties and is even offered in the form of a Basque hot dog at harvest time.

Ingredients for 4 People:

1 kg shoulder of veal (alternatively shoulder of lamb)
3 large onions
2 fresh garlic cloves
6 green peppers
1 red pepper
4 - 5 tbsp olive oil
0.5 litre beef or vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp ground piment d`Espelette
Pepper & salt to taste

For the alternative axoa stew:
Additional 3 - 4 medium sized potatoes; wash, peel and cut them into small cubes.

Directions:

Dice the meat into small cubes, then peel the onions and garlic and finely chop both. Then rinse the green and red peppers, cut open, remove the core and cut into fine strips.
Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the chopped onions and garlic for about 5 minutes until they are both translucent.
Add the pepper strips and the meat, season with piment d`Espelette, salt and pepper, stir well and simmer for about 5 - 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
Pour the stock into the dish, add the bay leaves and simmer with the lid on for about 20 - 25 minutes until the meat is soft.

If you don`t want to cook a side dish separately, you can add 3 - 4 medium-sized potatoes in small cubes and cook for the last 15 minutes to create an axoa stew.

At the end of the cooking time, flavour the dish again with allspice d`Espelette, salt and pepper. If you have not made the axoa into a stew, serve it with boiled potatoes as a side dish.

Bon appétit