Weeknight
Serranito — Seville's favourite sandwich
Andalusia in a crusty roll: hot pork loin, jamón serrano, fried green pepper and ripe tomato. The Serranito is now found across Spain, but its heart — and its greatest concentration of devoted bars — remains in Seville and Cádiz.
No cheese, no muddle, no reinvention needed. The beauty is the contrast: crisp bread, juicy pork, salty ham, soft green pepper and cool tomato.
Seville, where the Serranito became a bar-room classic — with Cádiz sharing the Andalusian devotion.
Method
- 01
Cut a small slit in each pepper. Warm a generous slick of olive oil in a frying pan and cook the peppers over medium heat, turning, until blistered, collapsed and tender. Drain and season with salt.
- 02
Season the pork lightly with salt and pepper. Raise the heat and sear the thin fillets in the same pan for 1–2 minutes on each side, until golden and just cooked through.
- 03
Split the rolls lengthways and toast the cut sides lightly in the pan. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.
- 04
Layer the tomato, hot pork loin, folds of jamón serrano and one fried green pepper into each roll. The heat from the pork should just soften the ham's fat without cooking it hard.
- 05
Close, press very gently and serve at once, with alioli or mojo picón and chips on the side rather than buried inside.
Serve it with
Pairings
- Cheeses
- None needed — the jamón supplies all the savoury richness this sandwich wants.
- Cold meats
- Jamón serrano is essential; use thin slices so its fat softens against the hot pork.
- Seafood
- Save the seafood for another tapa — perhaps boquerones or fried Cádiz fish before the sandwich arrives.
- Salads & vegetables
- A simple tomato salad, olives, or the traditional fried green pepper already tucked inside.
Keep cooking
