Bobby Flay Made Christina Perez's Meaningful Family Recipe
Bobby Flay made his debut on Food Network in 1994 and, since then, he has solidified himself as one of the most competitive chefs on the platform (via the channel's official website). Through his series "Throwdown," he even constantly battled against the best chefs in the country to prove he's the best. Though Flay's demeanor can be intense on these shows, there are glimpses of his soft side, like when he jokes around with Michael Symon or plays up the charm with Giada De Laurentiis.
With Flay's confidence and cooking skills, it's no surprise that he has had quite a few high-profile relationships over the years. Overall, the star is pretty secretive about his love life, but recently he let it slip in a live interview with "The Today Show" in October 2021 that he's adjusting his cooking style for his new girlfriend (via The Sun). His new flame remained a mystery until he and Christina Pérez made their public debut at the 2021 Breeders' Cup World Championship in November. Since the big reveal, they've been featured on each other's social media feeds and, most recently, cooked one of Pérez's recipes together on Instagram.
They cooked Empanada Asturiana, a savory pie from northwest Spain
Now that Bobby Flay and Christina Pérez have gone public as a couple, it's no surprise that they are sharing their culinary adventures on Instagram. Recently, the two worked together to make her family's recipe for Empanada Asturiana — a dish that has been passed down for generations, as Pérez explained and showed Instagram followers each step in making it, while Flay did the cooking. According to her Instagram stories, the dough for the savory pie is a traditional mixture of flour, butter, eggs, salt, yeast, and water that has to rise all day before being pressed into a deep-dish pan. The filling is a mixture of tomatoes, olives, peppers, garlic, fish, and herbs and spices. One tip that Pérez mentions is that you want a lot of dough on the edges of the pie because the crust is the best part.
This dish is chock full of vegetables, and Flay told People that Pérez is teaching him to cook with less meat. In his podcast "Always Hungry," which he co-hosts with his daughter Sophie, he mentioned that he planned on making white bean risotto for a Christmas dinner side dish because Pérez loves veggie-centric dishes. Things are getting pretty serious if she's sticking around for the holidays, and we love that for Bobby.