SPANISH RECIPES

Spanish Cuisine and receta of the week

Paella Recipe

Ingredients

• 250g rice
• Half a green pepper and red pepper
• 2 peeled garlic cloves
• ¼ Onion
• 100g calamari
• 100g cuttlefish
• 12 clams
• 6 mejillones
• 6 cooked mussels
• Handful of shrimps or prawns
• 150g chopped chicken
• 75g peas
• 1 chicken stock cube
• Oil, Salt, Saffron and parsley

Elaboration

STEP 1:
Finely chop the onion and the garlic and gently fry them with a little oil (so they remain soft and don´t burn) in a paella pan or in a wide shallow saucepan.

STEP 2:
Cut the peppers into strips of 2cm2, add them to the pan, and stir until they are cooked.

STEP 3:
When the peppers have cooked add the chopped chicken, cuttlefish, calamari, clams, shrimps or prawns, the parsley, and a dash of white wine. Leave it to cook until it has reduced (i.e. the wine has evaporated).

STEP 4:
After the wine has been reduced add the rice and allow it to lightly fry so that it absorbs the flavors of the seafood and the chicken.

STEP 5:
Add water in proportion to the rice (usually for each cup of rice add two and a half cups of water). Also add the stock cube, a little chopped parsley, the saffron, peas, and salt to taste.

STEP 6:
When almost all of the water has evaporated add the cooked mussels and more salt if necessary. As soon as the water has evaporated turn off the heat and cover it with kitchen roll or a clean tea towel for 10-15minutes so that it marinates and absorbs some of the water.

Spanish Gazpacho recipe.

Ingredients (for 4 people):

1 Kilo tomatoes (preferable plum tomatoes) 1/2 small onion (60 grams) 1 small green pepper 1 small cucumber (the small chubby Spanish type) 1 small cup of olive oil	2 desert spoons of vinager 200 grams of bread from the day before, soaked in water Small portions of diced tomatoes, red and green peppers, cucumber, onion and bread or croutons to sprinkle on top.
Steps: 1: Put the tomatoes, onion, pepper, cucumber, vinager, oil and bread into a liquidizer. If you want to dilute it, add a glass of water. Tip: if you want to go for a tangy garlic taste, add a small amount of fresh garlic to the mixture before liquidizing. 2: Put the mixture into a bowl, add salt and pepper and leave the gazpacho to chill for at least an hour. If you want to eat it straight away, you can put some ice cubes in to cool it down. Gazpacho is a Summer dish which is meant to hydrate and cool down your body. So the colder the better!! 3: Serve the gazpacho en soup bowls, with the portions of diced tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onion, croutons etc on the table, so that everyone can add them to their bowl as they prefer. Tip: you can also sprinkle diced serrano ham or hard boiled egg.
Use quality ingredients: Spain produces excellent fruit, vegetables and salad foods, so try and buy good quality ones. Go to the local market instead of your nearest supermarket, where you can get the freshest (and cheapest) produce. If it isn't Summer and you can't get plum tomatoes, go for the ripest and juciest ones available (see our page on tomatoes, and on raf tomatoes - in Spanish).
Tips/Secrets: Make sure you have enough time to put it in the fridge so that you can serve your gazpacho really chilled. Use quality produce. Vary the ingredients according to your personal taste. Gazpacho makes a delicious starter to a meal.