Piperade with sofrito and pastrami

To make the sofrito, grill or cook the peppers directly in a gas flame for about 10 minutes, turning them until the skins have blistered and blackened. Rub the skins from the flesh and discard. Rinse the peppers under cold running water. Halve and deseed, then cut the flesh into strips.

Put the tomatoes in a large saucepan or heatproof bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover, then leave for about 1 minute. Drain, skin the tomatoes carefully and then chop the flesh.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and cook gently for 10 minutes until softened and transparent. Add the garlic, tomatoes and peppers and simmer for 5 minutes until any juice has evaporated from the tomatoes. Set aside until ready to serve.

Beat together the eggs, thyme and salt and pepper in a bowl. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the eggs, stirring until they are lightly scrambled.

Meanwhile, reheat the sofrito. Stir the scrambled eggs into the reheated sofrito and spoon on to 6 serving plates. Arrange slices of pastrami around the eggs and serve immediately, garnished with sprigs of thyme.