tapas and paella class at the cookery school manchester
Paella, Tapas & Pinchos – Recipes
Our cookery classes are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your evening and are ready to recreate the meals at home. The recipes work really well as delicious dinners and make a great combination for dinner party ideas.
You Cooked:
- Seafood Paella;
- Mackerel, Romesco & Salsa;
- Morcilla, Quail Egg & Pepper Pinchos;
- Padron Peppers;
- Ham Croquettas;
- Spanish Meatballs;
- Pincho Morunos;
- Spanish Flatbread;
Seafood Paella
Ingredients:
- – 80ml olive oil (80 ml)
- – 1 large onion finely diced
- – 2 garlic cloves minced
- – 2 medium tomatoes peeled and diced
- – 5 teaspoons sweet paprika Spanish pimentón de la Vera is the best if you can get it.
- – 1 pinch of saffron threads
- – 2 large squid cleaned and sliced into 1/4-inch rings, tentacles left whole (not used in this dish)
- – 380g rice (380 g) see notes
- – 240ml white wine (240 ml)
- – 720ml of seafood stock (720 ml)
- – 12 prawns or jumbo shrimp, shells on if possible for extra flavor
- – 12 mussels
Method:
- In a large saucepan over high heat, bring the white wine and seafood stock to a simmer. Add a pinch of saffron threads and keep warm.
- Meanwhile, put a large (16-inch) paella pan (see notes) over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When hot, add the onion to the pan and saute until translucent, stirring often.
- Add the garlic and cook until aromatic (about 1-2 minutes). Before it starts to brown, add the tomato and stir, adding in the paprika and a pinch of salt. Continue to stir and saute until the tomatoes are reduced and the oil is sizzling.
- Gently add the squid to the pan and stir to coat in the tomato mixture. Saute for about a minute, to give some color to the squid.
- Next, add the rice and stir to combine. After a minute of sauteing, spread the rice evenly across the pan (don’t worry if it looks like a thin layer, it will puff up).
- Gently add the simmering white wine and stock to the pan, all in one go. Reduce the heat to low, and cook, without stirring, for 10 minutes. Carefully lay the prawns/shrimp in a circle on top of the rice and cook for a further 10 minutes, turning the shrimp over as they start to turn pink. If the rice starts to dry out before the shrimp is cooked, you can top it up with a bit more hot stock, half a cup at a time.
- Meanwhile, steam the mussels by putting them in a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid in half an inch of water. When the shells open, they are cooked! (Discard any that do not open).
- When the stock in the paella pan fully evaporates, you will hear a faint cracking from the bottom of the pan as the socarrat starts to form. If you don’t hear anything, you can raise the heat to medium for a short burst!
- When the rice is ready, remove the pan from the heat and arrange the mussels on top of the rice. Serve from the pan, with wedges of fresh lemon.
Mackerel, Romesco & Salsa
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – 4 mackerel fillets, bones removed
For the Romesco sauce:
- – 1 roasted red peppers, seeded and skinned
- – 40g stale bread
- – 30g almonds
- – 10g smoked paprika
- – 30ml red wine vinegar
- – 100ml olive oil
- – Salt and pepper
For the salsa:
- – 1 medium onion
- – 1 red pepper
- – 1 medium fennel bulb
- – 20g capers
- – 20g anchovies
- – 20ml chardonnay vinegar
- – 50ml extra virgin olive oil
- – 20g flat leaf parsley
- – 10g tarragon
- – Salt and pepper
Method:
- Place all the Romesco sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Adjust the liquid if needed then season to taste.
- For the salsa, finely chop the vegetables, fish and herbs. Place them in a bowl and mix together. Add the vinegar and oil, and season to taste.
- Place the mackerel skin side up on a tray, then season and drizzle with olive oil.
- Cook under a grill on a medium to high heat for four minutes or until there is a good colour on the skin and the fish is cooked through.
- On a small plate or bowl, add a generous layer of Romesco sauce. Top with the cooked mackerel and serve with a generous spoon of salsa.
Morcilla, Quail Eggs & Pepper Pinchos
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – 1 whole morcilla de burgos
- – 8 fresh quail eggs
- – 200g tinned piquillo peppers, sliced into thin strips
- – 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely sliced
- – 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- – 1 tsp caster sugar
- – Sea salt
Method:
- In a medium size frying pan, gently warm the olive oil and add the garlic slices, cook gently for 1 minute or until lightly brown. Remove from the oil, add the piquillo peppers and slowly cook for five minutes. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar, season with sea salt and return the garlic, cook for a further 10 minutes on low heat and set aside.
- To cook the morcilla, cut the sausage into 1-inch thick pieces and fry in a hot frying pan for 3 minutes on each side. Drain on some kitchen towels.
- For the quail eggs, gently crack each egg using the edge of a knife. Drop each egg in a small ramekin or cup and gently slide it into the hot oil. Cook four eggs at a time until they firm up, 1 to 1.5 minutes. Larger eggs may take a little longer.
- On a warm plate, spoon the warm piquillo peppers, place a piece of the morcilla sausage and top with a crispy fried quail egg before serving.
Padron Peppers
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – 300 grams of Padron peppers about 2 cups
- – 50 ml extra virgin olive oil (1/4 cup)
- – Flaky sea salt
Method:
- Rinse and dry the peppers.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan at high heat until it is very hot (but not yet smoking).
- Add the peppers and cook, tossing occasionally, until the skin starts to blister and soften. Don’t let them burn, but do leave them enough time to completely soften.
- Remove the peppers and place them on a plate.
- Sprinkle generously with sea salt and enjoy!
Ham Croquettas
Ingredients – Makes 24:
- – 60g unsalted butter (60 g)
- – 60ml olive oil (60 ml)
- – 120g flour (just under one cup — 120 g)
- – 1 medium onion very finely diced
- – 1l whole milk at room temperature (1 litre)
- – 1 pinch nutmeg
- – 225g jamón serrano or Parma ham diced into small pieces (225 g)
- – flour for breading
- – 2 beaten eggs
- – breadcrumbs for breading (try Panko for non-traditional extra crispy croquettes!)
Method:
- Melt the butter and warm the oil in a heavy pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the diced onion and sauté for a few minutes, until it just starts to colour.
- Add a pinch of salt and the nutmeg. Don’t add too much salt as the Serrano ham is already salty.
- Add the diced ham and sauté for 30 seconds more.
- Add the flour and stir continuously, until the flour turns a light brown colour. You must not stop stirring or the flour will burn!
- When the flour changes color, add the milk little by little, always stirring until you incorporate the entire amount. It should take about 15-20 minutes to add it all.
- Turn off the heat and let the dough cool to room temperature.
- Butter the sides of a large bowl and place the croquette dough inside, covered directly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
- To make the ham croquettes, shape them into little logs (or use a pastry sleeve if you have one.)
- Next, while heating a pan full of olive oil on the stove, pass the croquettes through the three-step breading process. First, cover them in flour, then in egg, and, finally, in the breadcrumbs.
- Fry the ham croquettes in the hot oil for about five minutes (making sure to turn halfway so they brown evenly) and then let them cool for a few minutes before enjoying!
Spanish Meatballs
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – 450 g ground meat a mixture of beef and pork
- – 2 garlic cloves
- – 1 egg
- – 2 ½ tablespoons dried breadcrumbs
- – 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- – ¾ teaspoon sweet paprika
- – ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- – ¼ teaspoon hot paprika
- – 1 teaspoon salt
- – ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- – 1 tablespoon olive oil
- – Tomato sauce:
- – 1 medium onion
- – 2 tablespoons olive oil
- – 3 garlic cloves
- – 2 cans chopped tomatoes each weighing 400 g/ 14 oz
- – ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- – 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- – 2 bay leaves
- – ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- – 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- – salt and pepper
Method:
Meatballs:
- Place the ground meat, grated garlic cloves, lightly beaten egg, dried breadcrumbs, parsley, sweet, smoked, hot paprika, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix well with your hand. Form between 30 and 35 small meatballs, about the size of a walnut.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet. Fry the meatballs (in two batches if necessary) until brown on all sides. This will take about 5 minutes. Take the meatballs out of the pan and set them aside.
Tomato sauce:
- Chop the onion very finely.
- Saute: Heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil in the same skillet. Add the onion and cook it until translucent. Add the finely chopped garlic cloves and stir for another minute.
- Simmer: Add the tomatoes from the can, fennel seeds, oregano, bay leaves, cayenne pepper, and chopped parsley. Add some salt and pepper as well. Stir well and bring to a boil. Simmer on medium-low heat for 20 minutes or until slightly thickened.
- Add the meatballs to the pan and heat them in the sauce for about 5 minutes or cooked through.
- Serve as suggested above.
Pincho Muronos
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – 6 pounds chicken thighs off the bone
- – 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- – 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- – 1 tablespoon sweet Spanish paprika
- – 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- – 1 teaspoon oregano
- – ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- – ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- – 1 teaspoon salt
- – 5 minced garlic cloves
- – ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- – Juice of ½ a lemon (for marinade)
- – Lemon wedges (for serving), herb alioli
Method:
- Trim the thighs of excess fat and then cut into 1.5 inch cubes and put into a large bowl.
- Mix all spices, olive oil and lemon juice in a bowl and then pour over the chicken pieces.
- Leave marinating ideally overnight.
- Remove the marinated chicken and place on metal skewers with a little bit of space between each cube.
- Grill on a high heat until browned on the outside but just cooked through (don’t overcook or they’ll be dry!)
- Rest the skewers for five minutes and serve with lemon wedges and garlic and herb mayo
Paella Verdura
Ingredients – Serves 3:
- – 300g of paella rice such as bomba or calaspara
- – 400g of tinned chopped tomatoes
- – 1x small onion, diced
- – 2x clove of garlic, crushed
- – 1tbsp of olive oil
- – 1tsp of turmeric
- – 1 small red pepper, diced
- – 1 small courgette, diced
- – 1tsp of paprika
- – 1tsp of cumin
- – 1/2 tsp of saffron
- – 850ml of vegetable stock
- – lemon and chopped parsley to garnish
- – salt and pepper to taste
Method:
- Place a large and deep pan over medium heat and add the oil, saute the onion until translucent and continue with garlic, courgette and pepper.
- Cook for further 3 minutes, then add all the spices, make sure that your pan isn’t completely dry (add more oil if needed).
- Rice goes in next, fry it without adding any liquid for 2 minutes, this helps to open the grains and helps to absorb the stock easily.
- Make sure you don’t stir your paella too much as you would release too much of the starches and end up with a risotto-like texture.
- Add salt and pepper, half the stock and all the tomatoes, mix well once, turn the heat to low and let it cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, add more stock at this stage and repeat.
- The whole process will take roughly 20 minutes, depending on your rice texture preference.
- Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving, zest and juice lemon and add chopped parsley as garnish.
Spanish Flatbread
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – 185g plain or 00 flour – plus extra for dusting
- – 20 ml of olive oil
- – 80ml water
- – 0.5tsp of baking powder
Method:
- Add the flour, baking powder, olive oil & 80ml water to the mixing bowl, stir all together using a wooden spoon…once it all combines, take the dough with your hand until it becomes a springy dough. If your dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. If too crumbly, add a little more water.
- Set Aside – it doesn’t need to rest for long, but you can wait until you need to cook.
- Split dough into 8 balls, heat frying pan to high heat, while the temperature builds, sprinkle flour on clean work surface or board, and some on your rolling pin.
- Take a ball of dough, flatten into rough circle with your hand then roll until thin, keep turning and flipping over.
- Add 2 -3 flatbreads to your pan at a time and cook until you see the flatbreads blister and char.
- Once both sides cooked, keep wrapped in tea towel – this softens your flatbreads.
We hope you enjoyed the class!
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