5 Easy Tapas Recipes

Gambas Pil Pil

(Prawns with Garlic and Chilli)

Ingredients

 300 g Raw large prawns  2 Tablespoons of Olive oil  1 Chopped red chilli (for extra spice leave the seeds in)  2 Cloves of garlic peeled and chopped  Salt and chopped flat leaf parsley to serve  Knob of butter

Instructions

1. In a small frying pan, heat your oil until it’s almost smoking.

2. Add knob of butter.

3. Add your chilli, garlic and prawns.

4. Cook until the prawns are pink all over, moving the pan around so that the garlic doesn’t burn.

5. Sprinkle with salt and parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Carne con papas

(beef stew & potato’s)

Ingredients

 Olive oil  1 small or medium onion, or 1/2 a large one.  2 or 3 tomatoes, depending on the size.  1 carrot.  Bay leaves.  Salt and Pepper.  Chopped parsley.  2 cloves of garlic.  1 large bottle of white wine.  3-4 medium sized potatoes  ¼ kilo of stewing beef.

Instructions

1. Cut up the onion and put it in the pan with some olive oil leaving them to sweat out. When they are done, add the chopped tomatoes, carrot and the garlic. Chop the vegetables, before adding them to the pan.

2. Prepare and season the meat and brown in olive oil in a separate pan, then add to the original pan, add the wine and all of the spices (parsley, pepper, bay leaves). Reduce down the wine until it becomes thick and creamy. Next chop the potatoes into big chunks and add to the pan, add some water until it covers everything in the pan.

3. Once it starts to boil, lower it to a medium-low heat, make sure it’s not the lowest, until the potatoes are soft (between 15 and 25 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Keep testing until your knife or fork goes through easily).

4. Sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley and serve with crusty bread

(Tomato bread with Serrano ham)

Ingredients

 4 ripe tomatoes , chopped  1 garlic clove , finely chopped  3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (preferably unfiltered)  salt

 pepper  10-20 slices of crusty bread (depending on size of slices)  5-6 slices Serrano ham

Instructions

1. Mix together the chopped tomatoes, chopped garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Keep in the fridge until needed.

2. To serve, toast the slices of baguette. Spoon a little tomato topping on to each piece of toast. Tear the slices of Serrano ham into pieces and put one piece on each slice of bread.

(Spanish omelet)

Ingredients

 1 tbsp of olive oil  1 onion , sliced  1 red chilli , Chopped and deseeded  2 tsp curry spice (we used coriander, cumin and turmeric)  300g cherry tomatoes  500g cooked potato, sliced  bunch coriander, stalks finely chopped, leaves roughly chopped  8 eggs

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the onion and half the chilli for 5 mins until softened. Tip in the spices, fry for 1 min more, then add the cherry tomatoes, potatoes and coriander stalks to the pan. Season and beat the eggs, pour over the top of the veg and leave to cook gently for 8-10 mins until almost set.

2. Heat the grill and flash the tortilla underneath for 1-2 mins until the top is set. Scatter the coriander leaves and remaining chilli over the top, slice into pizza sized slices and serve with a green salad.

Ingredients

 3 tbsp olive oil  10 large raw tiger prawns in their shells, heads removed and kept  small bunch of parsley, leaves and stalks separated, leaves roughly chopped  100ml dry sherry or white wine  500g mussels  large pinch of saffron strands  150g cooking chorizo, cut into chunks  1 onion, finely chopped  3 garlic cloves, finely chopped  1 medium squid (about 300g), cleaned and cut into rings with tentacles intact  2 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped  250g paella rice  100g frozen podded broad beans or peas (or a mixture of the two), defrosted  1 lemon, finely zested then cut into wedges  Sea salt

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wide, shallow pan. Add the prawn heads and parsley stalks and sizzle until the heads turn pink, then mash with a potato masher. Pour over the sherry or wine and 300ml water, season with salt and simmer for 10 mins to make a stock, mashing the prawn heads as they cook.

2. Scatter the mussels into the pan, cover the pan loosely with a lid or tea towel, then put over a high heat for 3-4 mins until the mussels just open. Stir to release the mussel juices, then pour the contents of the pan into a colander set over a large bowl containing the saffron. Let the saffron steep in the stock – you will need 700ml in total, so top up with water if needed and give everything a good stir. Pick the mussels out from the colander, then set aside.

3. Wipe out the pan and add the rest of the olive oil. Sizzle the chorizo until it releases its oil, then add the onion and garlic and cook until softened. Add the squid and turn over until it turns white. Add the tomatoes and cook down for a minute, then pour over most of the stock, give everything a good stir and bring to the boil. Scatter the rice over the stock, stir well once, then boil vigorously for 5 mins. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and slowly simmer for 10 mins without stirring until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid.

4. Tuck the prawn tails into the rice and simmer for 5 mins, turning them over until cooked through. Stir through the mussels and broad beans or peas. Taste the rice – if it is still a little raw but the pan is dry, add a splash more stock and continue to cook; if it’s too soupy, then increase the heat to cook off the last of the stock.

5.Once the rice is just cooked, turn off the heat and cover with a tea towel for a few minutes. Scatter over the parsley leaves and lemon zest, then season with sea salt if you like. Stir everything once, then serve straight from the pan, with lemon wedges on the side.