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Boquerones al vinagre (Anchovies in Vinegar)
Serves 4.
Boquerones are found in tapas recipes everywhere. They are small, fresh anchovies (or whitebait) ‘cooked’ in vinegar and preserved with olive oil. They start out raw but the vinegar gives the flesh its cooked appearance.They are, like their close relation the sardine, an oily fish stuffed full of proteins and minerals. I’m sure there must be some Omega-3 acids in there somewhere but I’m not a food scientist so don’t take my word for it.
As with many Mediterranean dishes they are extremely healthy, protecting against heart disease and lowering cholesterol.
½ kilo (1lb) fresh anchovies
2 glasses white wine or sherry vinegar
4 tablespoons salt
1 glass water
2 or 3 garlic cloves, finely-chopped
a handful of chopped parsley
olive oil
Every region has its different methods but the basic principles are always the same for this tapas.
You’ll need to use fresh anchovies. (Please don’t confuse these with tinned or bottled anchovies, these will be far too salty and are not suitable for this dish.)
First you have to top and tail them, then clean and fillet the fish. This is a bit on the fiddly side as they’re so small - but perseverance will be rewarded!
Rather than fillet them in the ordinary way, you can just slit them along the belly and open them out. This exposes the backbone which can be lifted out.
Next, you wash the fillets very well and pat them dry.
In a bowl, thoroughly mix the vinegar, water and salt, then test the mixture with one anchovy. Put it in the liquid and if it floats in the middle then the mixture is correct. If it sinks there is too much vinegar, if it floats there is too much salt.
When you’ve got it about right (don’t be too fussy) you can add the remaining anchovies and cover the bowl.
The fish has to be left for one to two days in the refrigerator, soaking in the vinegar mixture. Again, this timing tends to vary, with some Spaniards just leaving them overnight.The vinegar cleans and ‘cooks’ the fish and also softens any remaining little bones.
Once they are done, you throw the vinegar away and very carefully rinse off the fillets. Pat them dry again, cover them with good quality olive oil and add the chopped garlic to taste.
They will keep like this for quite a while so the garlic will infuse the flesh even more as they mature.
When you’re ready to serve, simply put some on a small plate, sprinkle with some freshly-chopped parsley and serve with crusty bread to mop up the garlicky oil.
Or you can serve them on garlic-rubbed toast and let the oil soak in. They really are a flavourful little fishy tapas treat!
Boquerones fritos (Fried anchovies)
Serves 4.
A lot of people don’t like tinned anchovies but these are entirely different. Fresh anchovies are a real treat for fish lovers everywhere. And tapas doesn’t come much simpler than this.
½ kilo (1lb) fresh anchovies
flour
salt
freshly-ground pepper
a couple of eggs (beaten)
olive oil (for frying)
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Take the heads and tails off, then gut the little fishes. You can then just slit them along the belly and open them out. This exposes the backbone which can be lifted out.
Next, you wash the fillets very well and pat them dry. This again is a bit fiddly but it's worth it.
Mix the flour, salt and pepper in a bowl. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Dip the fillets into the flour mixture, then into the beaten egg, and then into the hot oil quickly. Keep a close eye on them, they cook very quickly.
Serve straight away with the lemon wedges and crusty bread.
Calamares Fritos (Fried Squid)
Serves 4.
You can’t go anywhere in Spain without coming across tapas recipes of fried squid.Forget the rubbery rings you may have experienced elsewhere on your travels, properly cooked, fresh squid is meltingly tender in the middle and crunchy and lemony on the outside.
Do give it a go, but make sure your squids are fresh and that they didn’t die of old age!
4 medium-sized fresh squids
3 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
freshly-ground black pepper
a couple of eggs, beaten
olive oil (for frying)
1 lemon, cut into wedges
To prepare and clean the squid, pull the tentacles gently away from the hood. This should bring out the intestines as well. Remove and discard the beak, cut off the tentacles from the gut and remove the soft bone from the hood. Wash the hood and tentacles under cold running water. Pull the skin away from the hood while doing this and discard it.
Cut the body into rings of about 1cm (½ inch) and the tentacles into bite-size pieces. Mix the flour, salt and pepper and coat the rings and tentacles in the mixture. Then dip them in the beaten egg and fry them in very hot oil until golden. Remove and drain on absorbent kitchen roll.
Serve with the lemon wedges and some extra seasoning if desired.
Gambas al ajillo (Garlic prawns)
Serves 4.
Another example of how the simplest of tapas recipes can be so tasty. Don’t use pre-cooked or frozen prawns for this dish, you need decent-sized fresh ones.
1 kg (2 lb) fresh prawns (shrimp)
6 or 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
olive oil, for cooking
Pre-heat the oven to 250°C (500°F, gas 9). You can leave the heads on the prawns or take them off, it’s up to you, but do peel them and leave the tails on. Carefully pull out the vein, starting at the head end.
Take four individual ovenproof dishes and put about 1cm (½ inch) of oil in each one.
(Note: If you want to do it just like the Spanish and use the proper 'cazuelas' you can click here or the image at the top of this page and buy them online.)
Divide the chopped garlic beween them also and put them in the oven for 10 minutes or until they’re sizzling hot.
Remove from the oven and divvy up the prawns into the four pots. Put back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so until the prawns are nicely pink and cooked.
Serve immediately, straight from the oven, while they’re still sizzling. Don’t forget to mop up all that hot, garlicky oil with some fresh bread.
Gambas pil-pil (Chilli & garlic prawns)
Serves 4.
Now here we have a seriously flavourful, Moorish-inspired variation of the above tapas recipe. It is prepared and cooked in exactly the same way as above except that you add some finely chopped fresh chillies (quantity according to your taste) at the same time as the garlic and oil before you heat the dishes in the oven. Powerful stuff!
Ensalada de atun y huevos (Tuna and egg salad)Serves 4.
This is a very colourful tapas dish that you can throw together in no time. Although this is made with tuna and eggs, you can substitute almost anything you have in your refrigerator to make a quick and tasty salad.
2 med tins of tuna, broken into chunks
2 eggs, hard boiled and segmented
1 red pepper, chopped into 1cm (½ inch) dice
1 green pepper, chopped into 1cm (½ inch) dice
black olives (for colour, but green will do), de-stoned and sliced
2 to 4 cherry tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
2 or 3 spring onions, sliced (or 1 small onion, chopped)
Extra virgin olive oil, a slosh or a glug to taste
Salt and pepper
Set aside the tuna and the egg. Take a large bowl and mix all the remaining ingredients. Season with the salt and freshly-ground black pepper, then glug in some of the oil and mix again to coat everything nicely. Arrange onto the plates, add the tuna chunks and egg segments, drizzle over a bit more oil and a grind of pepper and serve with some crusty bread. Instant tapas delight!
Pimiento asado y atun (tuna and roasted red pepper)
Serves 2.
Red peppers (or capsicums) are an extremely versatile vegetable. When slow-roasted or grilled they are an intensely sweet sensation. This tapas combination was just made for each other. If you’re cooking for more people, just multiply the quantities.
1 can tuna, broken into largish chunks
2 red peppers
2 or 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
olive oil, for roasting
extra virgin olive oil, for dressing
half a lemon, for juice
salt and pepper
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas 4). Cut the peppers into quarters lengthways, remove the seeds and the membranes. Place in a roasting pan, put the garlic slices on the peppers and drizzle liberally with the cooking oil. Roast for about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of your peppers.
Keep an eye on them as you don’t want them to burn at the edges. You also don’t want the garlic to burn as this will make it bitter. If in doubt, it’s safer to turn the heat down and roast them for longer.
When they’re done, remove and let them cool down. Then cut the peppers into thin strips, arrange on a plate with the garlic and put the tuna on top. Squeeze some lemon juice over it and drizzle with the extra virgin oil. A bit of salt, a grind or two of black pepper and you’re in business. Don’t forget the bread.
A variation is to grill the peppers. Just prepare them as above but without the garlic. Put them under the grill skin side up until the skin blackens, then put them in a plastic bag with the garlic slices to infuse and cool down. When serving you could use a red wine vinegar instead of the lemon juice.
For another variation, and more of a main meal, you could use fresh tuna steaks. Sear them in a hot frying pan but leave them pink in the middle, then serve with the roasted pepper still hot.
You could also sprinkle on some fresh herbs to taste. Thyme, parsley, oregano, dill - anything goes if you like it that way!
Atun y aceitunas con pan (tuna and olive tapenade crostini)
Makes about 12.
slices of bread (small baguette or similar, cut on the diagonal)
olive oil
a fresh tuna steak, about 250g (8oz)
Salt and pepper
For the tapenade:
a good handful of black olives, about 25, pitted
1 anchovy fillet
1 clove of garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
a good few grinds of black pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). In a mixing bowl, toss the bread slices with the olive oil, salt and pepper, coating each side completely. Place the bread on a baking sheet and bake for about 6 to 8 minutes, or until crisp and slightly golden. Remove the bread from the oven and set aside. Season the tuna steak with olive oil, salt and pepper, then place on a hot grill plate or in a grill pan. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side for medium-rare or adjust timing according to your preference.
To make the tapenade, combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and puree for a few seconds, or until the mixture is smooth. This is just a guide, you can experiment with these amounts to suit how you prefer it.
To serve, slice the tuna into as many slices as you have bread, and place one slice on top of each crouton. Spread about a spoonful of the tapenade on top of each tuna slice. You can garnish it with some chopped chives or parsley if desired.
Buñuelos de bacalao (salt cod fritters)
These little cod fritters originate from Catalonia and are made with salt cod. Originally introduced by Basque fishermen, salt cod has become a very popular tapas all over Spain.
You need to soak the bacalao in fresh water for about 24 hours, changing the water a few times during this period. This will get rid of the excess salt.
Makes about 30 .
500g (1lb) bacalao (salt cod)
1 large potato, peeled
1 small onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
30g (1oz) self-raising flour
2 tablespoons milk
50ml (2 fl oz)olive oil
2 eggs, separated
small handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
olive or vegetable oil for frying
First of all, cook the potato for about 20 mins. until soft. Mash it with the milk and some of the olive oil then leave to cool.
While this is going on you can drain the cod and cover it with water in a pan. Bring to the boil then turn down the heat and poach it over a low heat for 30-45 minutes until soft and cooked. Remove and drain and when cool enough, remove the skin and any bones, then flake the fish into small pieces.
Heat the remaining olive oil and fry the onion until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute or two. Be careful not to overcook the garlic, there's nothing worse than burnt garlic for spoiling a dish.
Mix the potato, cod, onion/garlic, egg yolks, flour and parsley in a bowl, then whisk up the egg whites into a stiff consistency and fold into the mixture.
Fill a saucepan or frying pan to about 3-5cm (1-2in) and heat until med hot (200°C, 400°F) then drop in egg-sized dollops of the mixture. Cook until golden and puffed up. Drain onto paper towel and serve with lemon wedges.
Almejas con vino blanco (Clams with white wine)
Clams are a dish you will find all over Spain. There are different varieties of clam but for this tapas recipe just use the common 'carpet shell' ones. Many tapas bars serve the little baby almejas which are even more succulent. You won't find many dishes much simpler or more flavourful.
Serves 4.
1 kilo of clams
2 large tomatoes
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
about half a wine glass of white wine
a couple of grates of fresh nutmeg
olive oil for frying
flat-leaf parsley (about a half-handful)
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Begin by soaking the clams in salt water for an hour or two to get rid of the grit, then rinse them under fresh water. Get rid of any that are open.
Next, score a cross in the tomatoes, place them first in boiling water for 20 seconds and then put them into cold water. Peel the skins off, quarter them and scrape out the seeds, then chop them finely.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onions over a low heat until soft. Then add the garlic and the chopped tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes or so. Add the parsley, the nutmeg and season well with the salt and pepper.
Add half a wine glass of water then cover with the lid and cook until all the clams have opened (get rid of any that do not open).
Remove the lid, add the wine and cook over a low heat for about 4-5 mins to reduce the liquid. Don't stir the clams or they will fall out of their shells, just gently agitate the pan.
Serve immediately and just slurp them straight off the shells. And don't forget to get that crusty bread into the tomatoey, garlicky, winey sauce!
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