Three dishes prepped and cooked in 50 minutes
Like the Greeks, Turks and Middle Easterners who have their Mezze, the Spanish have their Tapas. Both are entrenched in the tradition of relaxed meals and snacks picking at a variety of tasty morsels, whiling away the time contemplating the secrets of the universe.
I was introduced to Tapas quite a few years ago during a trip to Barcelona. After a long day of sightseeing one of the main highlights was enjoying meals with a wide variety of flavors at the intimate neighborhood Tapas bars.
With tapas there are no set rules of what to eat or when and with whom. You can have an intimate gathering of two or you can share the experience with a group of friends. You can have a few small dishes like marinated olives, Manchego cheese and Jamon ham to enjoy with cocktails. You can expand on that and add a few more dishes as an appetizer course, or you can go the whole way and cook up a feast of small hot and cold tapas as a main meal.
Here are three of my favorite recipes for a quick and easy Tapas dinner. Garlic prawns, balsamic mushrooms and red wine glazed Spanish Chorizo sausage accompanied by slices of warm crusty bread. You can add to the menu slices of Serrano ham or prosciutto and Manchego cheese.
That, and with a little help from a bold Rioja, will transport you to a corner of Spain in under an hour any day of the week, summer or winter.
Timing and planning for meal.
Of the three recipes, the Chorizo takes about 25 minutes and is the least time sensitive dish. You can also control how quickly you reduce the liquid to its signature syrupy consistency. So start with that dish and while it is slowly cooking, prep and cook the other dishes which together take about 25 to complete. In the end the three dishes are ready at about the same time.
The sequence of cooking
You will need two 8”-10” frying pans, one to cook the Chorizo sausages and the other for the mushroom and the prawn dish. If you do not have two frying pans use a small sauce pan to cook the sausages, and the frying pan for the mushrooms and prawns.
While the sausage slices are cooking, start with the mushroom dish and once cooked plate it and set aside.
Rinse and wipe dry the same pan then cook the garlic shrimps. If you cooked the shrimps first, the shrimp taste may taint the mushrooms.
Make ahead
You can keep the dishes warm for at least an hour before serving in a 130 F (60C) oven.
Here are the three recipes and enjoy something different and fun for a change. We all need that!
Prep and cook all three in 50 min
Spanish chorizo al vino Tinto (in red wine) is a simple tapas dish where you cook slices of spicy chorizo in red wine and honey giving them a wonderful extra boost of flavor.
Spicy Chorizo Sausage Tapas Braised In Red Wine and Honey
by
Derek Farwagi
Equipment
- Two 8”-10” frying pans. If you do not have two frying pans, use a small saucepan to cook the chorizo.
Ingredients
- 3-4 Spanish (not Mexican) Chorizo sausages. Use fresh (chorizo fresco) or semi-cured (semi curado). These are softer and need to be cooked before eating. Fully cured chorizo tends to become too firm and not absorb the flavor as well.
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 clove garlic peeled but left whole
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley leaves for garnish
- red chili flakes to taste
Instructions
- Cut the chorizo into even bite size slices.
- Warm the oil in a small skillet/frying pan over a medium heat and add the slices of chorizo in a single layer. Cook for around 2 min a side. Add chili flakes and cook for a further minute to spice the oil.
- Tuck the bay leaf and whole, peeled garlic clove in between or under the chorizo slices.
- Add 1/2 cup red wine and a tbsp of honey. Once the liquid comes to the boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for around 10-15 minutes until the wine and honey mixture has reduced by about half and becomes slightly more syrup-like. If it is reducing too quickly take the pan off the heat. If need be, you can always thicken it further at the last minute.
- Once the liquid is syrupy, serve at room temperature in a shallow dish or plate and garnish with parsley.
Mushrooms in balsamic vinegar is one of my standby side dishes. The balsamic vinegar turns into a sweet and sour sauce that balances the woodsy mushroom flavor.
Mushroom Tapas In Balsamic Vinegar
by
Derek Farwagi
Ingredients
These are the quantities for this dish used as part of a Tapas meal with a selection of other dishes.
- 1 cup bite size Cremini or Baby Bella mushrooms
- 3-4 garlic cloves sliced 1/8” thick( so they get toasted in the oil without getting too dark).
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 4 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp dried sage, (Marjoram, Thyme or Oregano works too)
- 1 tbs cold unsalted butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- parsely for garnish
Instructions
- Remove stem of mushrooms and clean them with a damp paper towel. (Washing them under water can make them turn slimy.)
- Heat 2 tbs oil in a skillet or frying pan on a medium/low flame.
- Add the sliced garlic and mushrooms and and cook for about 2-3 minutes a side (for bite size mushrooms - more for larger ones) until they are still a little crunchy but not raw. Taste one to check if they are to your liking.
- Add 4 tbsp Balsamic vinegar, mix well and cook for 3-4 minutes to reduce the liquid to half the volume. The idea here is to cook off the tanginess of the vinegar until it is sweet and slightly syrupy.
- Turn fire off and finish by quickly blending in a tablespoon of cold butter.
- Add salt and ground black pepper to taste, plate the dish, garnish with parsley and serve.
Nutrition
Garlic prawns quickly cooked in a paprika flavored olive and surrounded by nuggets of sweet and buttery garlic makes this dish the mainstay of a typical Spanish Tapas.
Gambas al Ajillo (Spanish Garlic Shrimp Tapas)
by
Derek Farwagi
Ingredients
- ½ lb large shrimp peeled and deveined
- coarse sea salt
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 6-7 cloves of garlic thickly sliced- about 1/4” thick. (They will not brown when they are that thick, will soften, lose their pungent taste and become buttery and sweet tasting).
- ½ tsp paprika
- Juice of half a lemon
- salt to taste
- coarsely chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Pat the shrimp dry, devein and season with salt and set aside.
- In a cold skillet or frying pan, add olive oil and garlic. Place over medium heat till the garlic starts to sizzle on the sides. Add the paprika and prawns.
- Cook the prawns for about 2 minutes each side( this will depend on the size) and watching that the flesh turns opaque with a pearly pink color. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Stir in the lemon juice and parsley.
- Plate and serve at room temperature.
Nutrition
How to Serve the dishes
Serve dishes at room temperature with grilled baguette or ciabatta bread. If you are really hungry, add to the menu slices of Manchego cheese and Serrano ham, Spain’s version of Italian prosciutto which also works if you cannot get hold of Serrano ham.
Timing and planning the meal.
Of the three recipes, the Chorizo takes the longest – about 25 minutes and is the least time sensitive dish. You can also control how quickly you reduce the liquid to its signature syrupy consistency. So start with that dish and while it is slowly cooking, prep and cook the other dishes which together take about 25 to complete. In the end the three dishes are ready at about the same time.
The sequence of cooking
You will need two 8″-10″ frying pans. One to cook the Chorizo sausages the other to cook the mushrooms and prawn recipes. If you do not have two frying pans, use a small saucepan and use it to cook the Chorizos.
While the sausage slices are slowly cooking, start with the mushroom dish and once cooked plate it and set it aside.
Rinse and wipe dry the same frying pan then cook the garlic shrimps. If you cooked the shrimps first, the shrimp taste may taint the mushrooms.
And there you have it. If you get them all right first time you deserve a pat on the back!
Enjoy
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