Home Made Tapas

Tapas is something I’ve blogged before…but this particular dinner was done for a particular reason.  My friends are pescatarian and I’d promised to cook for them and their 10 year old son.  My normal Sunday Lunches are traditional roasts.  Or, for veggies/pescatarians, something like a paella or tagine.  My cooking isn’t entirely child friendly though – I use a lot of different spices.  So, tapas seemed like a good idea because the variety meant there HAD to be something that the 10 year old would enjoy!

Here’s the tapas menu this time:

Patatas Bravas with tomato jam and aioli
Roast Asparagus
Manchego Cheese Croquetas
Spanish Cod with Lentils
Gambas Pil Pil
Salad

And then chocolate profiteroles with whisky cream for the adults and with cookies and cream icecream for the 10 year old.

I’ve already shared the recipe for croquetas with you, and this version simply replaced the chicken with 100gm of grated manchego cheese.  It was VERY popular with the 10 year old who told me that it was almost as good as the special manchego cheese crisps he had at his friends (!)

He seemed to like the patatas bravas too, although the chili tomato jam was just too much for him!

The spanish cod with lentils was a recipe from Omar Alhiboy which was something of an experiment for me.  I think if I make it again, I will probably try seasoning the fish with some sweet paprika rather than adding the flavouring to the lentils and, I’ve just noticed the parsley should have gone in the lentils not on top of the cod!  But it was a great dish to serve up as the centrepiece of the tapas supper.

Finally the gambas pil pil (the posh Spanish name for chilli garlic prawns).  This is a very simple dish that I’ve made for myself on a number of occasions (it’s a great supper for one or two).  Here’s how to do it.

 

 

For 2 people as a main course or 4 as a tapas

 

12-16 large green (raw) prawns – shelled, butterflied and deveined.

5 cloves of garlic sliced finely or crushed

1 red chili de-seeded and chopped finely

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of white wine or dry sherry

Chopped flat leaf parsley to serve

 

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 200c

Put the oil into a casserole and place in the oven for 3-5 minutes (it should be smoking slightly)

Add the prawns, chilli and garlic and mix through

Place back in the oven for 5 minutes

Take out of the oven and stir through again.  Now, add the sherry/white wine and return to the oven

Heat for a further 2 minutes or so

Garnish with parsley and serve with lemon wedges

 

Another one of those totally simple recipes that just works.  You can leave the wine/sherry out altogether  if you prefer and red chili flakes work very well if you are doing this as a quick supper dish and don’t have fresh chili to hand.

 

I’m entering this dish for the Sweet Heat Blogger Challenge which this month is hosted by Janice from Farmer’s Girl Blogspot