I absolutely love tapas. I love the variety and the endless possibility of mixing flavours and textures. Spanish tapas is normally quite heavily meat and cheese orientated but there’s some great vegan options too! I composed my tapas of patatas bravas, padron peppers, guacamole lettuce boats and garlicky mushrooms (I’m not sure if the lettuce boats and mushrooms are particularly Spanish, but they go great with the rest!).

To drink, of course, I choose Sangria with a good amount of fresh fruit and with an addition of some stronger alcohol to enhance the flavour.

I’ve put the recipes in the order that I suggest you make the food, as the bravas take the most time and the peppers are ready in less than 5 min. But you need to start with the Sangria, of course, to make the cooking more enjoyable!

 

Sangria 

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle Spanish table wine
• 100 ml organe liquor
• 200 ml orange juice
• fresh fruit of your choice, I chose oranges, peaches and frozen raspberries
• maple syrup (optional)
• ice

Method:

1. Fill a big jug with ice, add sliced fruit, wine, orange liquor and orange juice, mix well with a long spoon. If you like it sweeter, add some maple syrup.

 

 

Patatas Bravas

Ingredients:

• 4 large baking potatoes (approx. 900g)
• olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp paprika
• a pinch of dried chilli flakes
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp soy yoghurt
• juice squeezed from ½ lemon
• fresh parsley, chopped

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. In a large roasting dish put 3 tbsp olive oil and put it in the oven for 5 min to heat up properly. In the meantime prepare the potatoes by washing them and cutting into small cubes. Place the potatoes in the dish and shake them so that they are covered with oil, then season with salt and put in the oven. Bake for 45-60 min until golden-brown and crispy.
2. In the meantime make the sauce. In a saucepan heat 3 tbsp olive oil, add chopped garlic and onion and cook on low heat for 5-7 min until soft and golden. Add tomatoes, tomato puree, sugar, chilli and paprika and cook for 25-30 min stirring occasionally, then season to taste and take off the heat.
3. Prepare the yoghurt by mixing it with lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
4. On the bottom of a plate put the tomato sauce, then place the potatoes on top, drizzle with yoghurt and finish with a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

Guacamole lettuce boats

Ingredients:

• 6-8 little gem lettuce leaves
• guacamole from this recipe
• fresh lime
• fresh coriander

Method:

1. Make the guacamole according to this recipe.
2. Put 2 tbsp guacamole inside each lettuce leaf then squeeze some fresh lime on top and sprinkle with chopped coriander.

Garlicky mushrooms 

Ingredients:

• 150g baby button mushrooms
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• a handful fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 100ml dry white wine
• salt and pepper
• fresh lemon

Method:

1. In a saucepan heat 2 tbsp. olive oil. Cut mushrooms in halves and add to the pan, cook for 3 min, then add garlic and parsley and cook for 3 min stirring occasionally, add white wine and cook for 5 min. Season to taste and drizzle with lemon juice before serving.

 

 

Pimentos de Padron

Ingredients:

• 150g padron peppers
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• coarse sea salt

Method:

1. In a frying pan heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Add peppers and fry for 3-5 min stirring occasionally. Take off the heat, add maple syrup and shake the pan to make sure all peppers get a touch of the syrup. Sprinkle with sea salt before serving.