Cured Spanish Pork Loin Board with Manchego, Olives and Toasts

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A tapas plate that lives or dies on the slicing. Lomo embuchado — pork loin cured with pimentón and garlic — is leaner and sweeter than jamón, and it needs to be shaved almost translucent so it melts on the tongue instead of chewing like deli meat. Nothing gets cooked: you chill the lomo, sharpen a knife, cut on a hard bias, and build the plate around it with Manchego, warm marinated olives, marcona almonds and crisp bread. Twenty minutes of knife work and arranging turns a $12 restaurant tapa into a board that feeds four.

Ingredients

• 6 oz whole cured Spanish lomo embuchado (or lomo ibérico), in one piece
• 5 oz Manchego cheese, aged 6–12 months, rind on
• 2 oz thinly sliced jamón serrano (optional, for contrast)

• 1 1/4 cups mixed Spanish olives (Manzanilla, Gordal, Arbequina), drained
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 wide strips orange zest
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

• 1 baguette or rustic country loaf
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, for the bread
• 1/2 cup marcona almonds
• 1 ripe tomato, halved (optional, for rubbing on toast)
• flaky sea salt

• 1 tbsp finishing extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp sweet pimentón de la Vera (smoked Spanish paprika)
• 2 tbsp quince paste (membrillo), cut into small wedges
• 4 piquillo peppers or a few cornichons (optional)

• 1 long thin-bladed knife (slicing or carving knife), freshly sharpened

Instructions

1. Chill the lomo: 45 to 60 minutes before serving, put the whole piece of lomo in the coldest part of the refrigerator, or in the freezer for exactly 15 minutes. Firm, cold cured meat shaves cleanly; room-temperature lomo drags and tears. If your piece still has a casing, peel it off with your fingers or a paring knife before slicing.
2. Make the warm olives: combine the olive oil, smashed garlic, orange zest, fennel seeds, rosemary and red pepper flakes in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Warm for 3 to 4 minutes, just until the garlic sizzles faintly and smells sweet — do not let it brown. Add the drained olives, swirl to coat, and heat 2 minutes more until warmed through. Slide into a small bowl and let sit at room temperature; they are best served warm, not hot.
3. Toast the bread: slice the baguette on a sharp bias into 1/4-inch pieces. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil and toast in a dry skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes per side, or on a sheet pan at 400°F for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden and crisp at the edges but still slightly chewy in the center. For a pa amb tomàquet touch, rub the cut face of the tomato over the warm toasts and sprinkle with flaky salt.
4. Slice the lomo paper-thin: set the chilled piece on a cutting board with the long side facing you. Holding your sharpened knife at a shallow 20- to 30-degree angle to the board, draw the blade through the meat in one long pull rather than sawing — you want slices you can almost see through, about 1/16 inch. Aim for 24 to 30 slices from 6 ounces. Wipe the blade with a paper towel every few slices so the fat does not gum up the edge.
5. Lay the slices out immediately in a single layer on a chilled plate, barely overlapping, and let them sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. This tempering step is what unlocks the aroma; ice-cold lomo tastes flat and waxy.
6. Break down the Manchego: cut the wedge into thin triangles about 1/8 inch thick, leaving the rind attached as a handle (do not eat the rind). If the cheese is well aged and crumbly, snap it into irregular shards instead — it looks better than forced neat slices.
7. Build the board: drape the lomo in loose ruffles across one side of a large platter or wooden board, arranging the slices so air gets between them rather than pressing them flat. Fan the Manchego alongside, add the jamón serrano in a separate ribbon if using, then fill the gaps with the warm olives, marcona almonds, wedges of membrillo and the piquillo peppers.
8. Finish and serve: drizzle a thread of good olive oil over the lomo only, dust it with a whisper of pimentón from 10 inches above the plate, and add a few flakes of sea salt to the Manchego. Tuck the toasts in a napkin-lined basket on the side and serve right away, with a chilled fino sherry, dry cava or a light Garnacha.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

Char-Grilled Oysters with Garlic-Worcestershire Butter

Dark Roux Seafood Gumbo with Quick Shrimp Stock

One-Skillet Blackened Cajun Chicken Pasta

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem