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.
Hello,
I live in the USA and love garlic prawns (or anything with prawns, really). I live in the USA. I also love the omelette (cold with a little bit of mayo – yum!), though I remember my Spanish teachers insisting it was a tortilla, we were not supposed to call it an omelette. 🙂
Absolutely the garlic prawns but he go to is Spanish omelet.
tortilla in santa monica ca
I live in the US and my favorite all time tapas is Spanish Omellette. It is so simple yet very tasty and filling. It has both protein and carbohydrate that really satisfy your tummy and a tapas craving. With my Spanish Omellette, Chorizo goes so well with it serve with some tapas bread and a good wine.
After a satisfying hor’deurve of tapas…I love makine paella because it is so delicious and enticing. It can be made with just vegetable, or seafood, or chicken or just a mix of fish and shellfish. It tops all my family gathering.
When we visitted Barcelona, I learned that an authtentic paella seafood is not to be mix with any poultry. We searched and read about a good authentic place we can get it and after miles of walking we found the famous “Sisters or Three Sisters” (can’t quite remember the name but it has “sisters” on it…that has been serving paella for generations and it was an absolute perfection.
I live in the United States (Tennessee) and my favorite tapas is Marinated Olives. I’ve always loved olives in almost any kind of recipe.
All the tapas sound (taste!) wonderful. Dozer is just absotively adorable.
Good morning Nagi! I live in Alberta Canada and love your blog for your no-fuss real approach to cooking and eating well. My favorite tapas- Does wine count? LOL! I’d have to choose anything with prawns.
Seafood Tapas for sure, living on the East Coast of Canada in Nova Scotia it’s easy to get fresh ingredients 🙂
thank you for that caution about the raw garlic. I did not know that. But that does raise the question about the jars of minced and chopped garlic in the produce section.
I haven’t made Spanish Tortilla (Omelette) in so long, I forgot how much I loved it. Thanks for the great reminder! (Beautiful photos of all your recipes; thanks for those, too!)
I live in sunny Florida in the US. I am going to try the Spanish tortilla because my husband wants potatoes with every dinner.
I’m from the Midwest – Chicago, Illinois area of the USA. I ❤️ Spanish Food!!! It’s my favorite. People don’t realize that it’s not like Mexican food at all. Spanish food has a lot of flavor, with all the different spices available. It’s spicy flavorful, not spicy “HOT” like Mexican food. My favorite tapas are the croquettas and empanadas. They are so delicious you can’t just eat one! Wish I had some right now!
Hi, Nagi! I live in the US , North Carolina to be exact. Just recently discovered your web site and I love it! I’ve made Garlic Shrimp, Spicy Smoked Almonds, the Potato Omelet, marinated olives, and marinated mushrooms and Banderillas for a tapas meal – I love appetizers! I’ve wanted to try making Paella – hint, hint….. I would be so pleased to win your giveaway.
This week I’m mixing up your Real Chinese All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce!
Hi Nagi!
I live in the United States (California), and my favorite tapas are croquetas!
Love all of your recipes, by the way!!
Hi Nagi,
I live in the US but I love the idea of tapas to taste different foods. My favorites are anything on top of a good bread!
Your mom’s blog tells a story; a wonderful journey to Japan.
I live in the US. These photos are gorgeous! I had patatas bravos in Barcelona with garlic aioli, which may be my favorite tapas so far. The tortilla is a close second. Had a delicious Galician version at this cool little NYC place a few times. I can’t wait to try these. (i’m allergic to fish & seafood, so I’ll have to skip those. 🙁
Wow! They all look wonderful. Having some friends over next weekend and guess what we’re having? Yeup, all those Spanish Tapas. Can’t wait! Would invite you too but we live in Northern Panama (near the Costa Rica border) so the drive might be a bit much. Love your recipes——keep em coming.
I live in the United States (El Paso, Texas actually) and the Spanish Omelette looks amazing.
I live in the USA. Portland, Oregon to be exact. 🙂
My 3 favorite tapas are lovingly made by my good friend Barbie who with her husband (he taught English there and teaches Spanish here) and young son spent almost 2 years in Barcelona. She makes a wonderful shrimp dish, her brandada on toasted bread is amazing, but she makes these little pork belly sandwiches that I lose sleep over. Amaze-balls!! Also, her paella that she cooks in a gigantic paella pan over a wood fire in the backyard is legendary.
I’m from Hungary, and my favorite would probably be the garlic prawns/shrimp, though I also love a good olive! All of these look scrumptious and beautiful!