Traditional Spanish Cachopo, with Cabrales Cheese Sauce Recipe
If you love meat and cheese then this Traditional Spanish Cachopo Recipe is definitely one for you to try.
What is Cachopo? - This is a traditional dish originally from Asturias in Norther Spain, but it can be found served in many other areas. Cachopo is similar to San Jacobos or cordon bleu; both are stuffed and breaded, usually with ham and cheese, the cachopo is also a kind of San Jacobo, but is much larger, a single Cachopo can serve two people. Unlike cordon bleu and San Jacobo a Cachopo is prepared with beef.
There are many different cachopo recipes, with multiple fillings; there are even some stuffed with seafood, mushrooms, peppers, vegetables, and so on, so try some different variations, to find your favourite, the recipe below is for a traditional Cachopo.
The Cabrales cheese sauce is perfect with the cachopo but is also perfect served over any steak or just over French Fries.
INGREDIENTS - SERVES 4
8 beef fillets (between 100 – 120 g very thin slices)
4 slices of serrano ham
8 slices of cheese (any that will melt well)
Salt and Pepper
100 g of Plain flour
2 large eggs
200 g of bread crumbs
METHOD
Remove the beef from the fridge, 2 hours before starting to prepare the Cachopo. If the fillets are not very thin, pound them with a kitchen mallet to tenderise, flatten and thin them. This will make the meat easier to handle, batter and fry. Season to taste.
Get three different plates ready, one with the flour, one for the eggs, (which should be beaten) and the last for the bread crumbs.
Take two fillets that are more or less the same size to form a cachopo, begin to add the fillings. On one, add a slice of serrano ham and a slice of cheese, if you like a lot of cheese, you can use several slices to make more layers.
Cover with the other fillet, pressing the edges well so that the meat sticks together and the stuffing does not come out. Repeat with the other fillets.
Dip them first in the flour, then in egg and finally the bread crumbs. It is very important to do it in that order as the flour helps the egg to adhere, while the egg works as glue for the bread crumbs. If your Cachopo are coming apart, use toothpicks to help keep them together.
In a frying pan, on a medium-hight heat, heat a good amount of oil, this needs to be enough, so that the surface of each cachopo is well covered. - be careful not to burn the oil as this would cause the cachopo to be cooked on the outside and raw on the inside.
Add the cachopos, cook for about two minutes on each side or until they are a golden colour. If it’s not possible to do them in a single batch, ensure to remove any breadcrumbs that are floating, in the oil, so that it does not stick to the next batch of cachopos.
Remove the cachopos from the oil with a slotted spoon, set aside on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Serve with French Fries, Piquillo peppers are also the perfect addition, you can eat them as a garnish or even use them as part of the stuffing. And the sauces? Cachopo is usually served with Cabrales cheese sauce, but also with caramelized onion and even with roasted or steamed vegetables.
Cabralas cheese Sauce - Spanish Blue Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
50 gr (5 oz) Cabrales cheese
200 ml (7 fl oz) whipping cream
1 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper
Method
In a small saucepan, put 1 tablespoon of butter and heat over medium heat. When melted, pour the cream and keep cooking, but do not let it boil.
Cut or crumble the cheese into small pieces. Add the cheese to the cream and reduce heat to low. With a whisk, stir well while the cheese is melting, to mix well the ingredients.
Reduce the sauce for about 15 minutes on a low heat so that it gets thicker. Stir often to prevent sticking.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove from heat.
Strain the sauce with a mesh strainer stirring the mixture with the aid of a spoon. When you have all the lumps inside the strainer, press them against it with the spoon to dissolve them.
Put the sauce back on heat to warm it up again and mix well all the ingredients.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Serve hot over meat or French fries.
