Pregnant or pregnant bun. Choripan or chorizo ​​boliños

How to make pregnant buns . If I think of Oviedo, a small bakery very close to the train station comes to mind, where I would buy a giant preñao bun or preñao bread .

It didn’t matter if it was 10 in the morning or 5 in the afternoon, it was my personal inauguration of the San Mateo festivities . Despite having eaten them for years until recently I have not incorporated bollu, bread or tortu preñáu into my kitchen.

This bun is a small piece of bread stuffed with chorizo ​​or bacon, perfect for a picnic , snack or a popular celebration such as those celebrated in Asturias, Galicia and Cantabria , where you can not miss with a cider culín.

This delicacy has a very old history, the pregnant buns or bolos de lareira, lar or do lume , as they are called in Galicia. They are born in the lareiras of many mills, with the corn flour that fell out of the grinding stone, taking advantage of it with a piece of bacon from the slaughter so as not to throw anything away. Pregnant buns are still prepared in many areas in Galicia, in Barco de Valdeorras (Ourense) they are made at the time of the slaughter.

In the north of Portugal they make them very similar to Asturians and call them empanada (caminha). In the central area of ​​Asturias, the Monday following the summer fairs is baked as a tribute to the older countrymen, ” Monday of the Old Men .” That day it is typical to eat the pregnant bun well soaked with the fat that the fresh chorizo ​​spills on the bread.

The Fiesta de práu is perhaps one of the most famous exaltations of bollu preñáu. As well as Field Tuesday (which usually falls in the month of May) in Oviedo. We can also find it in the Les Comadres festivities (in Pola de Siero) , the Bollu Festival in Avilés and the Bollu Festival in Arriondas that is celebrated on the last Sunday of July.

I leave you with a recipe that everyone likes because the combination of  bread and sausage  never disappoints. With very basic ingredients, for it to be delicious, all that is required is that the chorizo ​​be fresh, smoked and of quality.

They are perfect for the summer that awaits us, full of snacks in the open air, meals on the beach and in the country. Enjoy them and you will tell me if you prepare them.

Preparation of the bollu preñáo dough

1. We put the wheat flour in a large bowl except for about 2 tablespoons of flour that we leave to fatten the dough.
2. With a spoon we make a hole in the center of the bowl and pour the yeast dissolved in the water and the egg.
3. Beat with a wooden spoon from the center outwards and gradually mix with the flour.
4. We add the extra virgin olive oil and salt (it is important that the salt and yeast do not come into direct contact to avoid problems in the fermentation process).
5. We continue removing what begins to be the dough, for now it will be a sticky but firm mixture.

Preparation of the bollu preñáo dough. Kneading and resting

1. We prepare the area where we are going to knead, the kitchen counter is perfect. Sprinkle the area with flour, remove the dough from the bowl and start working the dough with your hands.
2. It is very important to refine the dough to make it more elastic and rise better. To refine it, we stretch the dough like a churro. Let’s spiral it several times.
3. At the end we put together and knead again for about ten minutes. This is the trick that makes dough amazing.
4. After those 10 minutes we can manipulate the dough more quickly since it will be elastic and homogeneous. The correct flour measurement is ” until the dough does not stick to your hands “, but it should not be abused either.
5. I have put 1 kilo in the ingredients although in reality I used about 100 grams less than I left to be able to handle and knead without problem. Remember that the amount depends on the flour that you are going to use, since they do not always come from equal millings, nor is the wheat the same.
6. We are turning the dough into a ball. We take the previous bowl, flour it and put the ball of dough.
7. We cover the bowl with a cotton cloth for about 45 to 60 minutes.
8. To find out if the dough has risen to the right point, use the following trick. If we press it with a finger and the dough returns to its original position it will be ready to prepare.

How to prepare our pregnant buns. Baking and final presentation

1. Once the dough is ready, we must knead again to remove air and make it easier to work.
2. We divide the dough into small portions. More or less so that you get some 3 or 4 cm buns filled with a medium-sized chorizo.
3. The size of the buns is up to you to choose. From the mini-sized ones to almost a sandwich, although personally I like them rather small.
4. We cut the chorizo ​​into small pieces so that they enter the bollín. In the course we cut it into three pieces and it gives more than enough.
5. We spread the dough into a square shape. We put the chorizo ​​in the middle and close the corners.
6. We shape it into buns until the closure is visible and they are all the same.
7. We preheat the oven to 190º C for 10 minutes. When you have all the buns ready, we put them on a baking tray in the middle. In which we have previously put a sulfurized paper or baking paper on which they rest raw.
8. Spread the surface with a little extra virgin olive oil and put in the oven. We cook at medium-high temperature (190 ° C) for about a quarter of an hour. Or until they take on their characteristic golden color.
9. Once cooked, they are removed from the oven and we let them rest so that all the flavors settle. And above all do not get burned when eating them.

I encourage you to visit more recipes for tapas, snacks and pinchos  perfect to share with yours. Here you have a step by step in photos where I show how to prepare this pregnant bun recipe .  Do not miss any detail so that they come out perfect.

Tips for a pregnant fluffy bun

• The type of chorizo ​​that we are going to use is key. It has to be strong in taste and smell. Well smoked as they are made in the north of Spain, which leaves all the characteristic red fat on the bread.
• The size of pregnant buns usually does not exceed that of a closed fist. And they are closed in such a way that their interior is not visible.
• The truth is that I like smaller ones. If I feel like repeating, I just have to gobble another one and make the dough crispier (I call them pregnant boliños).
• A sign that they are perfect for baking. Some buns will surely have been ‘smeared’ with the fat of the chorizo ​​showing a reddish color to paprika on one side. It is a good sign.