A recent trip to Santa Fe inspired this take on street dogs, best known for their place in Los Angelas late night food lore - we’ve altered the direction and locale to devise one of our favorite tail-gate foods in recent years - feel free to prepare all the components ahead of time then build to order once the dogs and bacon sizzle from the grill or oven - thump thump!

española HOT DOGS

Serves: 4 to 8 | Prep, Cook Time: 45 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

8 hot dogs

8 bacon strips

8 jalapeños

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 red bell pepper, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

Kosher salt

8 hot dog buns

For the Pico De Gallo

3 plum tomatoes, diced

1 avocado, diced

½ small red onion, diced

1 bunch chopped cilantro

2 limes, juiced

TECHNIQUE

Heat grill to areas of medium and high heat. Tightly wrap each hot dog with a strip of bacon until most of the hot dog is covered. Grill dogs starting on medium heat, cook until bacon is starting to crisp, then move to high heat section of grill until bacon becomes char. Set aside. While dogs are cooking, drizzle olive oil over jalapenos then grill on all sides until slightly charred - then set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the yellow onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to brown and shrinks by half, about 10 minutes. Stir in bell peppers and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil; season to taste with salt. Remove from heat when onions are caramelized and peppers are tender. Set aside..

Make the pico de gallo with avocado: Combine tomatoes, avocado, red onion, cilantro and lime juice in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and set aside.

Grill buns until toasty. Top buns with dogs, onions, peppers and pico de gallo. Finish with roasted jalapeños, devour.

*We love these dogs served with homemade potato chips or tortilla chips - perfect for scooping up extra pico de gallo..