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Recipe · Direct · Easy

Blistered Padrón Peppers on the Kamado

Summer's quickest starter: Padrón peppers tossed over fierce heat in a cast-iron skillet on the kamado, finished with good olive oil and flaky salt. Eight minutes, and some are hot, some are not.

Quick answer

Heat a cast-iron skillet on the kamado, direct at 250-270 °C. Add dry Padrón peppers with a thread of olive oil and toss for 6-8 minutes until the skin blisters and chars in spots. Lift off, salt with flaky salt and serve hot. Some are mild, some bite.

Pimientos de Padrón brillantes de aceite y con la piel ampollada, recién salteados en una sartén de hierro sobre un kamado, espolvoreados con sal en escamas.Save to Pinterest
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Prep
5 min
Cook
8 min
Servings
4 servings
Temperature
260 °C

Ingredients

  • Padrón peppers400 g
  • extra-virgin olive oil2 cda
  • flaky sea salt (Maldon-style)1 puñado
  • coarse salt (optional, to finish)1 pizca
  • lemon (in wedges, to serve)1 ud
  • extra olive oil to finish (optional)1 cdita
  • smoked Spanish paprika (optional, to dust)1 pizca
  • garlic clove, sliced (optional, to scent the oil)1 ud

Method

  1. 01

    Light the kamado

    Set the kamado up for direct cooking and stabilise it at 250-270 °C, with the grate low and close to the coals. Put a cast-iron skillet or griddle inside while it comes up to temperature so the iron preheats thoroughly.

  2. 02

    Dry the peppers

    Wash the Padrón peppers and dry them thoroughly with a cloth; water spits and cools the iron. Leave them whole, stems on, so you can eat them with your fingers. Don't salt them yet.

  3. 03

    Oil the iron

    With the skillet screaming hot, add the olive oil: it should shimmer and ripple, not smoke aggressively. If you like, drop in the sliced garlic for a few seconds to scent the oil, then lift it out before it burns.

  4. 04

    Toss over fierce heat

    Tip in the peppers all at once; they should crackle instantly. Sauté for 6-8 minutes, shaking the pan or turning with tongs so the skin blisters and chars on several faces. They're ready when soft, glossy and spotted with brown.

  5. 05

    Salt off the heat

    Lift the skillet off the kamado and, while still hot, scatter generously with flaky salt. Toss so the salt clings to the oil. An optional pinch of smoked paprika adds a smoky aroma.

  6. 06

    Serve at once

    Transfer to a plate or board and serve hot, with lemon wedges alongside and a final thread of olive oil if you like. It's finger food: grab by the stem and bite. Remember: some are hot, some are not.

About this recipe

Few starters set a summer table like a handful of glossy Padrón peppers scattered with flaky salt. The charm is homely and a touch treacherous: in any batch most are sweet and grassy, but one or two will genuinely bite. The kamado makes them better, because cast iron holds a heat a home hob rarely sustains.

In 30 seconds

Screaming-hot cast-iron skillet on the kamado, direct at 250-270 °C, dry peppers with a thread of olive oil, 6-8 minutes tossing until the skin blisters, then off with flaky salt. An eight-minute starter.

Padróns are small and would roll between the bars. A **cast-iron skillet or griddle** keeps them in full contact with a searing surface, so the skin blisters and chars in spots without drying the inside. Cast iron carries thermal inertia: drop the handful in and the temperature barely dips, so the sauté starts immediately.

This is not an oil-bath dish. The peppers go in **dry**, with only a thread of olive oil in the pan, cooked almost like a plancha. Toss them often so they blister on several faces; the minimal oil stops sticking and drives Maillard browning without scorching the skin too soon.

**Flaky salt** goes on off the heat, straight from the pan, so it clings to the oil and adds that saline crunch. Salting early only draws out moisture and hinders blistering. Serve at once: they lose their magic the moment they cool.

Editor's tips

  • The iron must be genuinely hot before the peppers go in: a lukewarm pan steams them instead of blistering, and they turn leathery.
  • Don't crowd the pan. A handful per batch lets each pepper touch the iron; piled up, they steam. Cook in two rounds if needed.
  • Drop the kamado lid between batches to hold the temperature; the iron recovers heat faster with the dome trapping the coals' radiance.

Gear for this recipe

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FAQ

  • What temperature for Padrón peppers on a kamado?

    Direct, 250-270 °C with a preheated cast-iron skillet. That high heat blisters the skin in 6-8 minutes without drying the inside.

  • Why are some Padrón peppers hot and some not?

    Heat comes from capsaicin, which varies with sun, watering and ripeness of each pepper. So within one batch most are mild and the odd one surprises.

  • Do Padrón peppers need to be deep-fried in lots of oil?

    No. On the kamado they cook almost like a plancha, with just a thread of olive oil in the cast-iron pan. They come out lighter and smoky, not greasy.

  • When do you salt Padrón peppers?

    Always at the end, off the heat and still hot, with flaky salt. Salting early draws out water and stops the skin blistering.

  • Can I cook Padrón peppers on the grate instead of a skillet?

    It's awkward: they're small and slip between the bars. Better a cast-iron skillet or griddle, or a vegetable basket if you'd rather not use the open grate.

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