Gambas al ajillo (Prawns with garlic)

1⁄2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4-5 garlic cloves, minced or sliced
1-2 dry red chillies
500 gr./1 lbs prawns, peeled and deveined
salt
fresh ground pepper
4 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped

Usually served as a Tapa, is so delicious it can be made as a main course!

In a pan or earthenware dish, warm the Olive Oil , add the garlic and sliced chillies.

When garlic starts to change colour, add the shrimps, and sauté quickly for about 2-3 minutes(until shrimps change colour), add salt and groud pepper, and sprinkle the parsley and serve at once in a warmed serving dish.

 If you wish, you can add lemon juice and paprika at the same time as the salt.

WARNINGS:

If you use frozen shrimps, you have to make sure they are dry when you add them to the pan.

Mejillones en escabeche (Mussels in pickled sauce)

1.5 - 2 kg mussels 
1 glass of white wine
2 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic
100 ml virgin olive oil
100 ml white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sweet or spicy paprika
pinch of salt (optional)









For starting clean the mussels very well and put them in a saucepan with a glass of white wine. Cover with a top lid and cook up to medium heat until all mussels are open. When ready drain (and keep the broth aside), remove the shells and reserve the cooked meat.


Low heat in a saucepan the olive oil with the garlic finely chopped. Let it cook until they get brown color. 

Then add the bay leaves chopped, along with the paprika. Stir constantly otherwise you can burn the paprika. Quickly pour the white wine vinegar and the broth from cooking the mussels, stir for couple of minutes and stop the heat.

Try and add a pinch of salt if it is need it, but usually is not necessary. Pour the marinade over the mussels. Let it cool to room temperature.

Potaje rociero

1 kg. / 2 cups chickpeas
2 tomatoes
2 red peppers
1 onion
1 head of garlic
2 bay leaves
3 carrots
1 tsp sweet paprika
2 chorizos
2 black sausages (morcillas)
250g pork meat
200 gr of bacon
2 - 3 slices of hard bread
Salt, olive oil & pepper 
cumin and nutmeg to taste



Leave the chickpeas to soak 24 hours in warm water with a pinch of salt. Change the water twice in that time. 

After 24 hours set the chickpeas in a pot with the peeled and chopped tomatoes. Then add the half of the head of garlic, unpeeled cloves of garlic. Following bay leaves, the sliced carrots, chorizo ​​and morcilla cutted in medium slices. Then we add the pork meat and the diced bacon, olive oil and sweet paprika. Pour water until covering all the ingredients and let it cook for about 60 minutes over low - medium heat. Add salt to taste.  

In a frying pan add the red peppers and onions diced. Lightly fry with olive oil, along with the other half of the head of garlic (peeled this time) Add diced hard bread after 5 minutes. 

Add cumin to taste and blend in a mixer with half a glass of water. Add to soup and let it cook. Once it is cooked add a a pinch of salt if need it, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Let it cool for 10 minutes and serve. 

Gazpacho Rociero

1 /2 kg of hard bread
2 very ripe large tomatoes
1 tsp of sweet paprika
5 or 6 cloves of garlic
1 large cucumber
2 glass of water
diced green and red pepper

olive oil, salt and white wine vinegar to taste

Wash the tomatoes and the cucumber properly and chop into squares. Set aside. 

Peel the garlic and in a mixer glass add all the ingredients. Once it is well crushed, strain with an strainer and let it cool in the fridge for 2 hours. 

Before serving add olive oil and vinegar to taste. Add diced green and red pepper on top. 

Tips_ You can add oregano on top for extra flavour. 

Origen_ This recipe is used in El Rocio pilgrimage for hidration after long walking days. 

Wine Sausage with sauteed cabbage

12 homemade sausages 
1/2 cabbage 
2 big potatoes 
2 cloves of garlic 
1 glass of white wine 
water 
olive oil 
salt 
parsley 


Peel the potatoes, chop and boil in a saucepan with water and salt. Drain and mash with a fork. Place the puree in a bowl, add a pinch of salt, chopped parsley and 2tbsp of olive oil. Set aside. 

Wash and chop the cabbage into thin strips. Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Golden fry with olive oil, add the cabbage and saute. Mix the cabbage with mashed potatoes and reserve. 

Meanwhile, cook the sausages in a pan with olive oil, and after 2 minutes add the white wine and cook for 3-4 minutes. 

Tips
Add manchego cheease go the mash potato mixture and cabagge. Yummy!

Conger in cider with prawns (Congrio a la sidra con gambas)

4 slices of conger or eel

2 glasses of cider 

1 onion 

2 medium tomatoes 

100 gr. / 1 cup peeled shrimp or prawns

12 mussels 

1 green pepper 

2 cloves of garlic 

1+1/2 cup water 
1 bay leaf

extra virgin olive oil 
parsley
flour

salt 

Season the conger or eel slices and roll in flour. Saute in olive oil (5 - 7 tablespoons) in a casserole and set aside. 

In the same casserole add 2 tablespoons oil. Cut onion into strips and fry slowly. After 5 minutes add the green pepper cutted into thin rings and the chopped garlic. 

Boild the mussels with a bay leaf and 1 and 1/2 glass of water. 

Meanwhile grate tomatoes, and when poached, add the tomatoes along with the water from the mussels and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Season if need it. 

After 5 minutes, add the slices of ​​eel and the cider. Allow to cook about 7 minutes. Then add the prawns and mussels and leave cooking another 3 minutes.

Use chopped parsley for garnish. 

Tips_ Traditionaly you can add boiled egg and sparagus on top also. 

Chanfaina de Salamanca (Cheap Stew from Salamanca)

1 onion 
200 ml of olive oil 

1 kg lamb (tripe, trotters and cooked blood) 

2 liters of water

A bay leaf 
2 cups rice 

2 cloves of garlic 

1 tsp cumin unmilled 
1 tsp cayenne pepper 
Ground black pepper 
salt 
2 boiled eggs



Wash and chop the lamb tripe and trotters. Boil in water with a bay leaf until they are tender. (30 min - 1 hour) Keep the water (broth) in the pot. 

Meanwhile, toast the cumin in a separate pan and crush in a mortar. 

Finely chop the onion. Sauté in a frying pan over medium to low heat. When the onion is ready, add the boiled tripe and the trotters, also the chopped garlic and cook over medium heat all together. 

After 5 minutes pour two cups of rice. Cut the blood into small cubes and add it to the frying pan along with the roasted cumin, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Saute for 3 minutes, until the rice is transparent and the paprika looks toasted. 

Add 4 cups of broth and season to taste. Let it cook over medium heat. 

When ready, serve in a dish and add cutted boiled eggs on top. 

Cod Fritters (Buñuelos de Bacalao)

250 gr of desalted cod 
1/2 green pepper 
1 clove of garlic 
200 g flour 
10 g yeast 
1 egg 
50 g butter 
200 ml milk 
vinegar 
olive oil 
salt 




Melt the butter and put in a bowl. Add the flour, yeast, milk, egg, butter and a pinch of salt. Blend with a stick and left to ferment a couple of hours. 

Finely chop the green pepper and 1 clove of garlic and lightly fry in a pan with a little oil. Crumble the cod and add to the pan. Saute briefly and add the dough. Mix softly. Set aside and let it cool. 

Set plenty of olive oil in a saucepan and cook over high heat. When hot pour small amounts of dough with a spoon. Remove the fritters when they are golden brown and let them drain on kitchen paper.


Tips_ Dip Buñuelos in Alioli as we do traditionaly in Spain. You can add a bunch of parsley
1/2 teaspoon of cumin to the alioli before mixing for extra flavour. 

Clams with Artichokes (Almejas con Alcachofas)

20 preserved artichokes
2 garlic cloves
3 - 4 tbsp olive oil
1 glass of water + artichokes liquid
1 tbsp flour
1/2 glass of white wine
24 clean clams
pinenuts or chopped almonds
salt and pepper





Drain the artichoke and set the liquid aside. 

Chop the garlics and brown them in frypan with hot olive oil. When almost ready add few pinenuts or chopped almonds for extraflavour. 

In a mixer wisk the flour, white wine and the 1 cup of remaining liquid from artichokes plus some water until filling up 1 glass. Pour in the frypan. 

Add the clams and cook until they are open. Then add the artichoke cutted in half and cook for a few minutes before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Stuffed roasted red pepper with spinach bechamel (Pimientos asado rellenos con bechamel de espinacas)

3 tablespoons of boiled white beans
8 roasted and peeled red peppers
50 g of spinach
1 red onion
1 clove of garlic
2 table spoons of pine nuts
1 - 2 tablespoon flour
200 ml milk
olive oil
nutmeg  

For the sauce
4 roasted and peeled red peppers
1 spring onion
350 ml cream
olive oil


Chop the onion and garlic, lightly fry in a pan with a little olive oil. Seasons. Wash spinach well, chop them and add them to the pan. Also add the pine nuts and white beens. 

Meanwhile, in a different frying pan add some olive oil. Add flour, some nutmeg and keep mixing. Mix well and slowly add the milk, stirring until the bechamel is made. Pour the spinach, onion, garlic, etc from the other pan and mix until getting a homogeneous bechamel. Place in a glass bowl and let cool. After about 30 - 50 min, fill up the roasted and peeled red peppers with the spinach bechamel. 

Piquillo peppers sauce (Salsa de pimientos de Piquillo)

1 can of piquillo peppers or red pepper
100 ml. of cream
1 clove of garlic
2 tsp olive oil




Add olive oil to a pan to lightly fry the sliced ​​garlic.

Add the red peppers and the "juice" of the can, season and let it cook to medium heat five minutes. Once the juices are evaporated, stir in the blender and let cool.

Add the cream and 2 tsp olive oil. Beat well until the sauce is smooth.

Guiso de pollo y chorizo (Chicken and chorizo stew)

6 large chicken thighs
200 g chorizo
1 onion
2 medium leeks
1 tespoon paprika
a pinch of saffron strands
2 whole heads of garlic
4 sprigs of thyme
200 ml sweet white wine
250 ml chicken stock
800 g boiled white beans
1 bay leaf
olive oil & salt



Heat some the olive oil in a large pot and fry the chicken thighs on both sides until they are crisp and golden, set aside in a plate. Cut the chorizo into 1-2cm chunks and add to the pot. Fry for a minute on each side and remove from the pot, leaving the oil behind. 

Add the onion cut into thin wedges and the leeks chopped into 2-3cm pieces (fry in the chorizo oil.) Reduce the heat, cover and soften the vegetables for 3 – 4 minutes. Check that they don’t catch on the bottom of the pot. 

Boquerón en Vinagre con ajo y perejil (Vinegar Whitebait with garlic and parsley)

1 kg of large whitebait 
Vinegar to cover
salt
Extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
parsley






Clean the whitebait,  remove innards, bones, tails and heads. Split in two pieces. Flush with water very cold, do not stir or fish can be broken. Drain it when fish is clean. 

Pollo al chilindrón (Chilindrón chicken)

4 chicken legs and 4 thighs 

4 cups diced onions
1 cup diced green peppers
1 cup diced red peppers
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup of Serrano ham or bacon
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
1 fresh rosemary sprig
1 bay leaf
2 cups plain  tomato sauce
2 cups of water
Olive oil & Salt 

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in pot over medium heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and brown them on all sides. When ready set aside in a plate.

Crema de alcachofas con boletus (Cream of artichokes with boletus)

8 artichokes
2 leeks
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
150 gr. boletus
zest of 1 lemon
parsley
virgin olive oil
butter


Chop the leek, onion and garlic. Lightly fry in a pan with a little olive oil and a tablespoon of butter. Incorporate the chopped boletus. Keep few for garnish.

Salsa de berengenas (Eggplant sauce)

1 eggplant
Chopped fresh parsley
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil




Preheat oven to 350 º. Cut the eggplant in half and in half again. Place the 4 pieces in a baking dish with a little water. Bake for 30 minutes or continue cooking until fully cooked.

Paella Mixta (Chicken & Sea Food Paella)

2 chicken breasts

500 g of clams & 500 g prawns

1/2 kg of mussels

300 g squid rings

3 cups of rice

1 - 2 liters of fish broth

1 tablespoon of saffron

1 red pepper

2 large tomatoes without skin

2 cloves of garlic

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 lemon

½ teaspoon ground pepper

salt & 1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

1 cup cooked peas (optional)

For starting cook the mussels, scraping clean the beard and all they have adhered to the shells. Place them in a covered pot with water and 1 bay leaf  for about 5 min. just until all of them are open. We take away the shell and put aside, leave some with one of the shells ( 4 -6) Keep the water. 

Fry lightly in the pan with olive oil the garlic, red pepper and finely chopped tomatoes & parsley.

Sopa de espárragos (Asparagus Soup)

1 handful of asparagus
1 clove of garlic
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
A piece of bread
2 eggs
1 liter of chicken broth
few strands of saffron
olive oil
pine nuts


Cut the asparagus, discarding the hardest part. Wash and drain well.
In a pan put some olive oil and when hot, removing from the heat cook the finely chopped garlic. Add the paprika then.

Guiso de cordero y alcachofas (Lamb and artichokes stew)

1 kg lamb

300 g of artichokes

300 g of peas

150 g ripe tomatoes

150 g potatoes

2 onions

1/2 head of garlic

1 glass of white wine

10 g of pine nuts

flour

ground black pepper

paprika

olive oil

2 bay leaves

parsley and salt

2 eggs boiled

Clean the lamb, cut it, season and dip in flour. Lightly fry the meat in olive oil, when golden place it in a pot. (Keep the olive oil in the fry pan) Add about 1 liter of water, and boil for 20 min along with the chopped artichokes and potatoes. After that time, add the peas and cook for another 10 minutes. 

Pollo al ajillo con patatas (Garlic chicken with baby potatoes)

1 whole chicken chopped or 2 kg of chicken wings or thighs
4 cloves of garlic
10 - 15 boiled baby potatoes
olive oil
parsley
1 cup water
1 glass of white wine
salt and black pepper

In a large frying pan put plenty of olive oil. When hot put the chicken and fry until well browned (20 min).

Incorporate the boiled baby potatoes split in half. Stir the chicken and the potatoes, making sure that they are not sticking to the bottom of the frying pan.