Spanish Tapas & Pinchos Recipes – Gambas al Ajillo; Pincho Morunos;
Our cookery classes are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your day and are ready to recreate what you cooked at home.
You Cooked:
- Gambas al Ajillo;
- Pincho Morunos;
- Spanish Meatballs;
- Spanish Flatbread;
- Romesco Sauce;
Gambas al Ajillo
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – 4 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil (Spanish olive oil, if possible)
- – 4 cloves garlic finely sliced
- – ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
- – 200 g raw prawns
- – Salt and pepper to taste
- – Juice of half a lemon (plus 2 lemon quarters for garnish)
- – 1 teaspoon paprika
- – 1 tablespoon parsley finely chopped
Method:
- Put the olive oil into a cold frying pan and add the sliced garlic and chilli flakes. Place the pan over a medium heat and allow the oil to gently heat up until it’s sizzling. Once the oil is sizzling, cook the garlic for 1 more minute. (Take care, as garlic can easily burn if cooked too long!)
- Add the prawns, bring back to sizzling and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring a few times, until the prawns are pink all over and starting to curl.
- Season with salt and pepper and squeeze over the juice of half a lemon. Stir the prawns one last time and then turn the heat off.
- Sprinkle with the paprika and parsley and serve immediately, while still sizzling.
- Serve with crusty bread and Fino Sherry for a delicious and impressive starter, or as part of a selection of tapas.
Pincho Morunos
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – 4 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)
- – dip of your choice
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
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.
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.
Romesco Sauce
Ingredients – Makes 3 Cups:
- – One 450g jar of roasted red peppers, drained
- – ½ cup raw or roasted almonds (unsalted)
- – ¼ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and drained
- – 2 medium-to-large cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
- – 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- – 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- – ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
- – ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Method:
- In a blender (preferably) or food processor, combine everything but the olive oil. Securely fasten the lid and blend, starting on low and increasing the speed as you are able to gain traction.
- Once the ingredients are mostly blended, start drizzling in the olive oil while running the blender. Blend until you reach your desired consistency (I like my romesco sauce pretty creamy, but you might prefer it with a chunkier texture).
- Taste, and add additional salt (up to ¼ teaspoon) if it doesn’t quite knock your socks off yet. Serve immediately with toasted sourdough bread rubbed with raw garlic (as a funkier version of Pan con tomate), you could add chorizo or other toppings.
- You could also use as a sauce for arancini and many other dishes.
- Or store in a jar in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
We hope you enjoyed the class!
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