Special Spanish Recipes to Cook and Share
Do you have a passion for food? Ready to try your hand at a Spanish recipe or two? Here are ten of our favourite simple Spanish dishes that you can cook at home:
- 1. Gazpacho
Rich tomatoes and punchy garlic dominate this vitamin C-rich recipe that really packs a flavourful punch. Gazpacho is a thick and smooth Spanish soup that is served chilled: perfect for a hot, sunny day. No cooking, or lengthy preparation required!
Ingredients:
- 250g passata
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp sherry vinegar
- juice ½ lime
Cooking Instructions:
Place all of the ingredients in a blender and pulse until completely smooth. You should also do this with a stick blender.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve chilled over ice cubes.
- 2. Patatas Bravas
Hearty chunks of fried potato are served with spicy tomato sauce to create this classic tapas dish that is impossible to dish. Because patatas bravas recipes varies so much around the country, you can add or remove ingredients to suit your tastes.
Ingredients:
- 900g potatoes, cubed
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 227g can chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 tsp sweet paprika
- Pinch of chilli powder
- Pinch of sugar
Cooking instructions:
Heat half of the oil in a pan and fry the diced onion for about 5 mins until softened.
Add the garlic, chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, sweet paprika, chilli powder, sugar and a pinch of salt.
Bring the pan to the boil, stirring to ensure no ingredients stick to the pan, waiting until the ingredients are soft and pulpy.
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Toss the cubed potatoes in oil and place them in a baking tray, before placing in the oven for 45-50 minutes.
Remove the cooked potatoes and place in a serve dish, before generously spooning the cooked sauce on top. Serve immediately.
3. Tortilla de Patatas
Simple and filling ingredients sit at the heart of this traditional Spanish omlette, which is unlike the Spanish omlettes traditionally served in the UK. Just three main ingredients are needed, making this incredibly easy to prepare and delicious to eat!
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 5 medium potatoes, diced
- 5 large eggs
Cooking instructions:
Fry the onions in the olive oil, cooking them until they are sweaty and translucent. Add the potatoes and cook for between 25-35 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and ready to eat. Stir regularly so that they don’t brown.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl, and then add the potato mixture.
Heat a frying pan then add the contents of the bowl to the pan. Cook until the eggs set and the edge of the tortilla starts to brown. At this point, flip the tortilla over using a plate, so that the uncooked side is also cooked. Remove from the heat, then allow the tortilla to rest and cool for around 15 minutes before serving.
4. Croquettes
Creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside, there is nothing finer than a Spanish croquette. These can be filled with almost anything you please but are best cooked simply, and filled with traditional Iberian ham.
Ingredients:
- 25g butter
- ½ small onion, diced
- 100g plain flour
- 250ml milk
- 140g sliced Iberian ham, diced
- 50g mature cheddar, coarsely grated
- 50g gruyere, grated
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp double cream
- 2 large eggs
- 150g dried breadcrumbs
Cooking instuctions:
Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan and gently fry the onion until they become translucent. Stir in half of the flour and then add the milk slowly, stirring constantly. Once all the milk is added, stir in the ham, cheese, mustard and cream. Cook for 1 min more until the cheese is fully melted.
Pour into a bowl and cover the surface with cling film to stop a skin forming. Leave to cool, then chill for 4 hrs or overnight – the mixture needs to be very stiff for the recipe to work, and to hold its shape properly. Once the mixture is set, take heaped teaspoons of the mixture and, with wet hands, roll into 24 small oval shapes and put on a tray.
Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl, put the flour on a plate and half of the breadcrumbs in a bowl. Take each croquette and dip it into the flour, then the eggs, then the breadcrumbs, until they are fully coated.
Fill a large saucepan with sunflower oil and when it is hot, add the croquettes 2-3 at a time. When they are golden brown remove, continuing the process until all of the croquettes are cooked and ready to eat.