Potatoes are one of those universal comfort foods. They are inexpensive, available at every farmer’s market or grocery store and delicious. Plus, there are so many ways to enjoy them.
Between fried potatoes, mashed potatoes, potato omelettes, roasted potatoes and potato salad – the list and variations are endless, but most of the recipes conjure up meals shared with friends and family.
One of our favorite Malaga-style potato recipes has to be papas a lo pobre! Similar to the home fries we grew up eating at brunch in the United States, these thinly sliced potatoes are cooked with onion and green pepper to give it flavor.
The first time we tried papas a lo pobre, which translates into “poor man’s potatoes,” it was part of a menu del día with a strip steak and a fried egg. Needless to say, it was quite a filling plate. Years later we’ve perfected our recipe for papas a lo pobre and it’s one of the go to side dishes typical in Malaga (although you can find it throughout Spain.) The best part? Papas a lo pobre are easy to make and call for simple ingredients that you can find in any market!
Recipe for Poor Man’s Potatoes (Papas a lo Pobre)
- 4-6 medium sized potatoes
- 2 onions
- 2 green peppers
- 3 cloves of garlic
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- Wash and peel your potatoes and chop them into thin slices.
- Chop up the onions, green peppers, and garlic
- In a large skillet add a good amount of olive oil and cook the potatoes over low heat until they begin to soften. Make sure to continue moving the potatoes carefully so they don’t fry.
- When you see that the potatoes begin to soften, add the green peppers, onions and garlic
- Continue cooking until the potatoes, peppers and onions are all very soft.
- Drain the excess olive oil
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Serve and enjoy as a side dish!
This blog post was updated on August 9th, 2017.
This is one of my favourite dishes. I eat it 3 to 4 times a week for lunch. It’s amazing in a bowl with plenty of cracked black pepper with a poached egg (make sure that yolk is runny) on top.