A Selection of Tapas

Do you ever have days where you wake up and just feel like cooking something different? I have been wanting to experiment with Tapas for a while, I love the idea of different dishes to select from. In Spain eating Tapas is very social, it is often served at bars and you have a selection to choose from. The dishes often use garlic and paprika and usually include a seafood choice. You can pick the ones you like the look of and leave the rest, mixing and matching to create a main meal.

The other day I finally decided to give Tapas a try. I had some left over roast pork, some prawns, some mushrooms, potatoes and a selection of herbs and spices. I decided to create dishes using what I had in the cupboard. The finished result, a selection of different Tapas dishes.

At the top are potatoes, cubed and fried. These were served with a tomato sauce and a garlic mayonnaise creating two different potato dishes, Patatas Bravas and Patatas Alioli. Beside this is a prawn dish that uses paprika and chilli, Gambas Pil Pil. At the bottom are some garlic flavoured mushrooms, Ajilo Mushrooms and finally some pork flavoured with paprika or Spicy Paprika Pork. I was very pleased with the result and it tasted fabulous as well. Perfect with a glass of white wine. It was all very quick to cook as well, some of it needed a little preparation in advance however.

If you want to try and recreate these dishes, here are the recipes:

Spicy Paprika Pork

Ingredients

• 2 lbs pork, cubed.
• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 cup white wine
• pinch oregano

Method

1. Place the pork into a bowl.
2. Mix the paprika, oregano, wine and garlic together and pour over the pork. Mix thoroughly and leave to marinade overnight.
3. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the pork until it is cooked though.

Gambas Pil Pil

Ingredients

• 1 kg uncooked prawns
• 100 ml olive oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
• ½ teaspoon salt

Method

1. Finely chop the garlic cloves
2. Peel the prawns, add to a dish and add the salt. Leave for 30 minutes.
3. In a frying pan heat the butter and oil until foaming then add the chilli and garlic. Cook until brown.
4. Add the prawns and cook for a few minutes until they change colour.
5. Sprinkle with paprika and add to a dish.

Ajillo Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 220g (8 oz)  mushrooms, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons white wine
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
• ¼ teaspoon paprika

Method

1. Crush the garlic cloves
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the mushrooms over a high heat.
3. Turn the heat down then add the wine, lemon juice, garlic, paprika and chilli.
4. Cook until the garlic and mushrooms are soft. Add to a serving dish.

I will definitely be trying some other Tapas recipes soon.

Read more:

• Two Tasty and Quick Jacket Potato Toppings
• Tapas potatoes