Spanish recipes


Easy, tried out Spanish recipes to create quick and easily in your own home. Spanish recipes full of flavour, fresh ingredients and colour. Spanish recipes reflect Spanish traditions and customs and these differ depending on what part of Spain you are visiting. Valencia has its own Spanish paella recipe and those visiting the Basque region will find that the typical fisherman’s dish, the marmitako is a must have. Throughout Spain you will see on an a restaurant menu, Tortilla, which is the traditional Spanish omelette, eaten hot or cold and which is often served by Spanish people to guests.

Gazpacho - cold tomato soup

INGREDIENTS
250g bread, 1kg ripe tomatoes, strip of green pepper, 1 garlic clove, 50g cucumber, 1 tbsp vinegar, seasoning of salt and pepper and water.
GARNISH with slices of cucumber, green peppers, tinned red pepper, small pieces of onion, hard boiled egg and cubes of crispy fried croutons.

METHOD
Soak the crubled bread for a few hours and introduce the squeezed out bread into the food processor with the tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, garlic, oil, seasonin and small glass of water. Process until smooth. Pass through a sieve and tip into a bowl. If too thick just dilute with more water but not so much that it begins to look like a health shop deuretic. Serve very cold. Add garnish around the soup or on a side plate. This is for people that like cold soups and not everyone does. Serve this ideally to your mother in law.

Paella

INGREDIENTS
2 large cups of rice, 100g diced pork tenderloin, 300g prawns, 10 chicken wings, 3 garlic cloves, olive oil, diced and peeled tomato, few drops of lemon juice, saffron and salt, fish stock, tinned red pepper.

METHOD
Fry the prawns after peeling if you have the time, or buy them already cooked and ready to go. Children do seem to quite enjoy snapping off the legs and peeling fresh prawns though. When done put them into a fridge so you don’t get food poisoning. In a paella frying pan if possible, ( put it on xmas list along with the diamond necklace) saute the garlic, chicken and pork in olive oil. If they have turned black you may as well go to M and S right now and buy something already cooked. If they are still honey coloured continue. Add the rice stiring contantly to prevent sticking and burning. If you see flames, go to M and S and buy something pre-cooked. If you cannot see flames continue. Now add the lemon juice, tomato, salt, saffron and pepper. Add fish stock ( chicken also works but fish is better) and add more hot water if needed. When it begins to boil cook then in the oven at 180 degrees, for 20 minutes and leave to stand for 15 minutes out of the oven. DO NOT STIR. Sprinkle water by hand on rice if it still appears to hard, then pop on a lid and cook for a little longer.
DECORATE WITH FRIED PRAWN TAILS AND BLACK OLIVES. Cooked mussels are also very good as a decorative floursih on top of a paella.

Lentils with Chorizo

INGREDIENTS
400g lentils, 1 finely chopped onion, 2 or 3 garlic clove, 1 carrot cut into pieces, 100g pork, 150g chorizo and 1stp paprika, olive oil.

METHOD

Soak the lentils for a few hours if you are really bored or buy already prepared in a jar and live your life. Fry onions, pork and garlic until gently cooked. Meanwhile gently boil and cook the carrot pieces, ( cheat and use the micro) then add to fried ingredients. Gently leave simmering and then add the chorizo. Leave to cook and then serve hot with fresh crusty bread.

Chicken in almond sauce

INGREDIENTS
2kg chicken, 3 chopped onions, flour for frying, olive oil, 1 litre chicken stock, safrron, 50g ground almond and parsley and salt.

METHOD
Chop chicken into pieces, season, dip in flour and fry. Saute the onions and place them in a casserole dish with the chicken. Sprinkle chicken with a litte saffron and parsley and cover with stock. The saffron will give the chicken and dish a lovely colour and make shopkeepers a tidy profit. Cook on a slow heat for a hour. At the end add the almond and leave to boil for a few more minutes. Serve when cooked, hot with white rice. Either buy ground almonds, or buy whole ones and place in a plastic bag, picture your nemesis and bang, bang, bang with a wooden rolling pin. The almonds that is not your nemesis.