Five EASY Spanish Tapas recipes!! All your favourites from the tapas bar – garlic mushrooms, marinated olives, Chorizo, Spanish Garlic Prawns/Shrimp, Spanish Marinated Olives and the famous Spanish Omelette (Tortilla).
This is the first of a 3 part Spanish Feast Special series that I’m sharing this week – complete with Spanish Wine pairings!
Hola! Who loves Spanish Food?? Me, me, me!!
Spanish food is made for gatherings. Tables laden with rustic food for sharing – no fussy giant white plates with a tiny portion of fancy food with names I can’t pronounce, garnished with tiny herbs and assembled using tweezers.
Spanish food is the polar opposite. Flamboyant, colourful, celebratory, generous, loud – and absolutely lip-smackingly delicious. Totally my kind of food.
And in the spirit of Spanish extravagance, this week I’m sharing something a bit special – a three part SPANISH FEAST MENU!!! 5 EASY Spanish Tapas recipes to start, a Chicken & Seafood Paella for the main and Churros for dessert. Woah! What a spread!
But wait….there’s MORE! What Spanish Fiesta would be complete without WINE??? So for each course, I have a wine pairing suggestion. 🙂 And to start? I’m grabbing this one for tapas – a Spanish Tempranillo from Rioja, Spain’s most famous wine region. 🙂
I love the name of this wine – La Mesa Y Los Amigos which means “The table and the friends”. Perfect for tapas, no? 😉
Besides the name being perfect, it’s a really great pairing with tapas! I wanted something pretty neutral – medium bodied and smooth so it didn’t overpower the kaleidoscope of flavours in my Easy Tapas menu. This Tempranillo is a dry red with a subtle warmth of spices and it is exceptional drinking for the price which I never would have guessed as being only $12 a bottle at Dan Murphy’s (I kid you not, I was shocked). I love finding gems like this – and I love sharing these finds with you!!
A note for wine nerds: Tempranillo is a Spanish black grape variety that is native to Spain, used to make medium to full bodied wines. It’s grown fairly widely around the world now, including in Australia and the States.
EASY SPANISH TAPAS RECIPES
I think that tapas, paella and churros are probably the most well known Spanish dishes in the world and I’m pretty darn excited to be sharing those with you this week! To kick things off, five easy Spanish Tapas recipes. I’ve added notes in the recipe for how to prepare these ahead so you don’t have to be scurrying around in the kitchen when your friends arrive. 🙂
Here’s a little run down of each of the recipes in this Tapas spread.
Garlic Prawns/Shrimp and Chorizo – The two dishes that I always order at tapas bars!
Garlic Mushrooms and Spanish Marinated Olives – Possibly my favourite way with mushrooms! The olives are just plain store bought olives that are dressed with herbs and citrus. Yum!
Spanish Omelette (Tortilla) – Arguably one of the most delicious omelettes in the world and commonly served as tapas in Spain! Because this requires a few more steps than the other recipes in my Easy Tapas recipes spread, I’ve included it as a separate recipe – get it here.
Jamon, Spanish Manchego Cheese and White Anchovies – Jamon is the Spanish version of prosciutto and it’s now widely available in Australia, even in supermarkets! Manchego is a Spanish cheese that is made with sheep milk that is beautifully buttery with a mild tang – one of my personal favorites (and you know how much I love cheese!!). White anchovies are completely different to the black anchovies that come in a jar (used in things like Caesar Salad dressings) – they are way less salty and marinated in vinegar, not oil. Perfect for antipasto!
Tiempo a la fiesta!! (It’s time to feast!)
– Nagi xx
PS Don’t forget Paella and Churro to complete your feast!!
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5 Easy Tapas Recipes
Ingredients
Garlic Prawns / Shrimp
- 1/4 cup / 65 ml olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves – 3 smashed , 1 minced
- 250 g / 8 oz raw prawns , peeled
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Finely chopped parsley
- Optional: lemon
Garlic mushrooms
- 1/4 cup olive oil (65 ml)
- 4 garlic cloves – 3 smashed , 1 minced
- 300 g / 10 oz Swiss brown or other small mushrooms
- Finely chopped parsley
Chorizo
- 2 (~250g / 8oz) chorizos , sliced (Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp olive oil
Marinated Olives (Note 4)
- 250 g / 8 oz plump black and green olives
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp Lemon or orange zest
- 1/3 cup olive oil (85 ml)
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves (or 1/2 tsp dried oregano or 1 tsp fresh thyme)
Spanish Antipasto
- Jamon cured ham
- Manchego Spanish Cheese
- White Anchovies
Spanish Omelette
- Spanish Omelette recipe here
To Serve
- Bread , Olive oil, Lemon wedges
- La Mesa Y Los Amigos Tempranillo Spanish Wine (great with tapas!)
Instructions
Garlic Prawns (Note 1)
- Place the smashed garlic in a skillet with the oil over medium heat. Sauté for 10 minutes, squishing the garlic down to squeeze juice out as it cooks, until garlic is golden brown. Then remove and discard garlic.
- Sprinkle prawns with salt and pepper. Turn stove up to high. When oil is hot, add prawns and cook for 2 minutes (for medium prawns) or until charred and just cooked. Just before the end, add the minced garlic and quickly saute, then transfer prawns into serving bowl.
- Sprinkle with parsley and red pepper flakes if using.
Garlic Mushrooms (Note 1)
- Halve or quarter the mushrooms, depending on size.
- Follow Garlic Prawn steps, except cook mushrooms instead of prawns. Cook the mushrooms until they are golden.
Chorizo
- Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Cook Chorizo until golden on both sides, then transfer to serving bowl, scraping in oil in the skillet.
Marinated Olives (Note 4)
- Combine ingredients in an airtight jar. Refrigerate for 24 hours – no longer than 48 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Spanish Antipasto
- Bring cheese to room temperature. Place on platter with ham and anchovies.
To Serve
- Place serving bowls / platters on table with plenty of bread to dunk into the leftover olive oil. Serve with your favourite Spanish wine!
Recipe Notes:
Giveaway CLOSED! Winners announced shortly.
ANNOUNCING: Spanish Fiesta Giveaway WINNERS!
The winners of the Spanish Fiesta Giveaway are:
Australia: Ian from the Hunter Valley, Belinda from NSW/Vic and Brittany!
Rest of world: Caitlin from Canada, Louellen from Sunny California, Sandra in the US
CONGRATULATIONS!! Each winner will receive a Spanish Fiesta prize pack of Spanish Wine, Paella Pan and Paella rice. I will email you shortly to arrange delivery!
4 x AUSTRALIAN PRIZES (Total Value A$600): 4 x Spanish Fiesta Gift Packs, each comprised of 6 x Spanish red wines (, 1 x 32 cm Miguel Maestre paella pan + 3 x paella rice. Delivered right to your door!
2 x WORLDWIDE PRIZES (Total Value US$300): Gift from me! 2 x Spanish Fiesta Gift Packs, each comprised of 6 x Spanish wines, 1 x 12″ paella pan + 1 x paella rice! If delivery is unavailable by Amazon or delivery cost is unreasonable due to winner location, the winner will receive an Amazon or Paypal gift voucher to the value of the prize.
Open To: Everyone, everywhere in this big wide world!!
To Enter: Just leave a comment below, telling me which country you live in and what your favourite tapas dish is! (PS Don’t worry if you can’t see your comment straight away, some need to be approved before they are displayed 🙂 )
Open Until: Monday 5 September 2016, AEST
Giveaway Terms and Conditions – You must be over 18 to enter in Australia, or over 21 in the rest of the world. Six winners will be randomly selected by a representative of Pinnacle Drinks. The winners will be notified by email and on www.recipetineats.com. If the winner does not respond within 7 days, another winner will be selected. For winners located outside of Australia, if the prizes cannot be delivered by Amazon.com or due to winner location, delivery cost is excessive, then the winner will receive an Amazon or Paypal gift voucher to the value of the prize.
Disclosure – This post and the Australia giveaway wine prizes are sponsored by Pinnacle Drinks, the geniuses who discovered and are spreading the love of Spanish wines throughout Australia! Wine and Spanish food lovers of the world such as myself thank you. <3
The paella pan and Paella rice included in the Australian prizes are donated by Maestre Family Food.
The Worldwide Prizes are being provided by me, Nagi Maehashi of RecipeTin Eats.
.Life of Dozer
This is the day I bought Dozer. I took my sister with me under strict instructions to ensure that I did not buy a puppy, that I was just window shopping. We had 3 puppy viewings lined up for that day.
Suffice to say, I never made the other two puppy visits.
Pensacola, Florida, USA. Living here on the Gulf Coadt we have ready supply of seafood,especially wild shrimp. The garlic shrimp sounds fantastic.
Hello Nagi, I live in France and can easily drive to Spain in four hours.
My favourite tapas or pinchos are lovely pink shrimp eaten whole, and little octopus in a divine dressing, sitting at the bar with a glass of Rioja. What a life!!
Double jealous – you live in FRANCE and can drive to Spain?? ?? PS Guess what cuisine I plan to do a menu for next? FRENCH FOOD!!! It’s coming up next month with some awesome French Ovens to giveaway! Woo hoo!!! N xx
Hi Nagi, I just want you to know I love your recipes! I stopped saving recipes until I came across yours, I’ve decided we think alike. Maybe because of our heritage, I’m Japanese-American, born and raised in Ogden, Ut, now living in Mesquite, Nevada USA. Embarrassed to say never had Tapas, but alway been meaning to ;D It all looks good, love shrimp, mushrooms, olives and Mexican foods.
Hola! me llamo Christina y vivo en Ottawa Canada. Me encantan los camarones de ajo.
Hello my name is Christine and I live in Ottawa Canada. I like the garlics shrimps. PS I tried almost all of your recipes and I find them easy and delicious. Thank you?
Australia! Patatas bravas
Hi Nagi, I’m an artist from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Western Canada. I have never tried any Spanish Fiesta Tapas before. I am looking forward to making the Spanish Omelette using your recipe! I will probably serve it with Caesar Salad and will also try making it with the black anchovies. I have been cheating when I make Caesar salad dressing just by mixing up minced garlic, mayonnaise, lemon juice and grated parmesan cheese. The other Spanish Tapas I would like to make are the garlic prawns, garlic mushrooms and the Spanish marinated olives. I have printed out a heap of recipes and I am looking forward to trying them all! I am one of your many subscribers and really look forward to trying new recipes!
Your puppy Dozer looks so adorable!
For the Love of Food! Lena Rasmussen
I live in the US. Not sure if this counts as tapa but I love a good meat and cheese platter. My favorite classic tapas would be a tie between the tortilla and empanadas.
USA – or Australia – mailing addresses in both
I love Spanish Marinated Olives and Manchego
Hola! Ah this is an easy one! Of course no one can go past meat balls with your Romesco Sauce as the best tapas dish. One whiff of that smokey capsicum, one taste of that creamy textured almond delight , gently caressing a plump fried ball of spicy meat ball and I’m back in Cesar’s one bedroom flat 500 metres from the Prado. Bliss!!
PS I live in Australia
Hi Nagi,
what a wonderfull post. The pics are amazing and really autentic (I know that, as I lived a few years in Spain)…I love spanish food as well sooooooooooo much.
Great Work! I think this was a lot of work for 1 Post. Congrats!!
Greetings from Germany
Sandy
I forgot…the churros are definitely the best 🙂
Artichoke hearts in garlic sauce, mmmmm. I’m in New Zealand.
This is a beautiful post, Nagi! I adore your photos (I always do, but especially today).
You know Mediterranean food always floats my boat. This reminds me of when I spent 3 months in Spain while at uni, and we stayed in one of the only Spanish cities where tapas are still free (Granada, just so you know to go there some day to stuff your face with deliciousness for free!). Not only that, but in some bars you could even ORDER which free tapas you wanted!
I love all the dishes you’ve made for us today, but my fave just has to be the tortilla. Soooo delicious and simple, and equally as tasty on its own or stuffed into a ‘bocadillo’!!
Hang on – what?? FREE TAPAS??!!! You mean in bars where you get free tapas if you order drinks???? You are the Queen of Mediterranean food Helen. 🙂 You know that!!!
Hi Nagi,
Thank you for your wonderful blog and recipes.
I really enjoy your gentle and down to earth manner, and always look forward to a little dog happiness with your photos of beautiful Dozer!
I’m in Perth Western Australia and one of my favourite tapas is pan-fried Chorizo slices with some fresh lemon squeezed over and crusty bread…..yum!
Best Regards,
Dimity
Nagi
I’ve been reviewing some of the posts and saw that you loved grilled octopus. I’ve been grilling baby octopus which have been great in an arugula salad with lemon. But if you had an octopus recipe I would consider it as “quintessential”.
Oooh! Grilling is my FAVORITE way with octopus! Do you marinate? 🙂
Hi Nagi,
I’m from Italy and I want you to know that your recipes are always a success here at home!!
Speaking about Tapas, I really love Aioli :))
Thank you for your work! Ciao e un abbraccio 😀
P.s. I read in one comment that your mom also has a blog? I would be so curious to read it, but I can’t find it!
Hi Lara! Italian food is one of my favorites!! Slow cooked ragus are incredible….so so incredible…. I love Aioli too! So much nicer than mayonnaise 🙂 Here is my mother’s blog -> http://japan.recipetineats.com It’s a Japanese food blog, all my favourite Japanese recipes!
I live in Piedmont (the north-west) near the mountains, so our cuisine is probably less known! It gets pretty cold here in winter, so traditional recipes are not so… light! ehehehe 😀
Bagna Caoda (garlic hot sauce), gnocchi made with a cheese dough served with cheese sauce, boar and roe meat, many many types of cheese, and so on! I think you would like it!
I hope not to bore you, maybe you already knew about this 🙂
Thank you for the link, I love Japanese food!
Nowhere near bored! 🙂 I love learning more about cuisines from around the world, and especially regional. I truly believe to my very core that some of the best food in the world is made in home kitchens, not in fancy restaurants. The thought of cheese gnocchi makes my knees weak…..and garlic hot sauce? I looked it up immediately! I know it as Anchovy dip. And I thought it was Italian! 🙂
All your recipes are great, especially if I follow them to the “t” which is hard to do for me. I love the spread you designed here. All these seem quite tasty and easy to prepare. I would like to find good chorizo here in Chicago. That would be a favorite. Both my sons lived in Spain for periods of time and when we visited we would hit the tapas bars hard. Iberico Jamon is always a must with manchego cheese. You’ve got me drooling again.
I live in Chicago, Illinois, USA
Iberico is my all time favourite, ever! It costs $300/kg here in Australia so it is a precious treat!!!
Tucson, AZ USA. My favorites are from a Tapas restaurant in Houston, TX.
Pastor de Legumbres – Terrine of grilled vegetables and cheese with roasted red pepper in olive oil and pine nuts with mixed greens
Ties with B’Stilla – Moroccan chicken pie and cinnamon almonds wrapped in a crisp filló dough
Restaurant is Mi Luna.
awesome! i love the bacon wrapped dates. i live in the usa
Hi Nagi
I live in Cairns Australia. Love Spanish food. Living in Cairns is tough sometimes because we don’t have a Spanish restaurant. Whenever we travel to Sydney, I have to eat at a Spanish restaurant. And I always chose the sevillan prawns….garlic and chilli…..yum.
Hi Nagi – Your tapas recipes look absolutely delicious! Like you, my favourite tapas are croquettes, followed closely by patatas bravas, followed closely by Tortilla, followed closely by Garlic Prawns, followed closely by … well, you get the message – I love tapas – haven’t met one I haven’t liked yet. Great selection of tapas recipes Nagi, and I will be having a Spanish themed dinner this week! And I won’t be forgetting to buy some Spanish wine to go with them 🙂
Thanks Nagi for more great recipes.
Oooh! I was going to do patatas braves but I couldn’t figure out how to keep them nice and crispy when making ahead 🙂 I’ll have to share that another time. I would love to know if you do a Spanish themed feast Margaret! PS Which country do you live in?? Just so I know – for the giveaway! N x
Hi Nagi – I’m in Australia, NSW Central Coast – sorry, I though I had put that in! 🙂
🙂 Close to me! I’m in Mona Vale – the central coast is a stone’s throw across the water!!!
Yeah, not too far away at all – I would have liked to have met you at the Food and Wine show but couldn’t make it unfortunately. Maybe next time 🙂