Recipes by Erica Karbelnik. You can find her on Instagram.
Gilda
Ingredients (per skewer)
- 2 manzanilla olives
- 1 anchovy (white in vinegar or brown anchovies in oil)
- Guindilla pickled peppers
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Wooden skewers
- Optional to serve with a slice of baguette
Directions
- To build the skewer, add one olive, on end of the anchovy fillet, followed by 2 guindilla peppers on the other end of the anchovy. Finish with an olive and drizzle with olive oil.
Morcillia (Spanish Blood Sausage)
Served on bread, generally topped with a fried quail egg that is sunny side up, and a sweet red pepper, held together with a toothpick and the defining feature of the Basque tapas.
Ingredients
- 1 Morcilla Sausage
- 8 fresh quail eggs
- 200 g canned roasted red peppers, sliced into strips
- 1 clove of garlic, sliced thin
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp castor sugar
- Salt, to taste
- Baguette, to serve
Directions
- In a medium sized frying pan, gently warm the olive oil.
- Add the sliced garlic, cook gently for 1 minute or until browned. Remove from the oil.
- Add in the strip of red peppers and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar and cook for another 10 minutes on low. Then set aside.
- To cook the morcilla, cut the sausage into 1-inch-thick pieces and fry in a hot frying pan for 3 minutes on each side, or until crispy on the outside.
- For the quail egg, gently crack each egg and cook in a nonstick pan with a little bit of oil, until they firm up and are a sunny side egg.
- To serve, slice a piece of baguette about 1-inch-thick, place the morcilla onto, then the quail egg and a apiece of pepper. Skewer with a toothpick and serve.
Stracciatella with White Anchovy and Parsley Oil
Ingredients
- Sliced Baguette (about 1 inch thick)
- Fresh Stracciatella or Burrata
- White Anchovies in Vinegar
- Parsley Oil (1 bunch of flat leaf parsley and 1 cup canola oil)
Directions
- For the parsley oil, blend the parsley and the oil together. Strain, and place in a pot on very low heat for about 5 minutes until the parleys oil has become vibrant green. Immediately place over an ice bath to cool down.
- To assemble, slightly toast the slice of baguette, spread about 2 tablespoons of Stracciatella onto the bread, top with 2 slices of white anchovy and then drizzle with parsley oil.
Tortilla de Patatas
Ingredients
- 2 large potatoes
- 6 eggs
- 1 onion
- 1 cup olive oil, for frying
- 1tablespoon salt
Directions
- Peel and wash the potatoes. Cut them into small and bite sized pieces.
- Slice your onion thin.
- Add olive oil to a frying pan and heat on medium heat. Add onions and slightly caramelize. In the same oil, add in your potatoes and stir while the cook. These need to cook all the way through and are tender.
- Drain the potatoes and onions from the oil. Reserve the oil to cook the tortilla.
- In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with salt and add the drained potatoes and onions, stirring the mixture to get it fully covered.
- Lightly grease a frying pan and warm it over medium heat.
- Add the egg mixture and cook until the bottom has slightly browned. Use your spatula to constantly go around the sides and the bottom so the tortilla does not stick. To help cook the tortilla you can stir gently at the beginning and then leave it alone.
- When the edges start to set keep lifting with the spatula to ensure it does not stick, once the outside has set, it’s time to flip.
- Grab a plate bigger than the size of the frying pan and place it upside down over the top of the pan, holding it firmly while you flip.
- Clean the pan and coat with oil (use the left-over cooking oil) then slide the tortilla back into the pan to finish cooking the bottom. You can choose to serve this still a little runny in the centre or fully cooked.
Gamba Al Aijillo
Gamba Al ajillo (Garlic butter shrimp) is one of Spain’s most iconic tapas originated in Madrid.
Ingredients
- 500 grams prawns, peeled and deveined (gambas)
- 8 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 2-3 guindilla peppers, sliced
- 120 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp sweet Spanish paprika
- 80 ml of white wine
- Fresh parsley, chopped
- Salt, to taste
- Spanish country bread or baguette, for serving
Directions
- Season with salt, place in a bowl and garnish with chopped parsley.
- Slice the garlic thin.
- In a pan over low heat, add in the olive oil, sliced garlic and guindilla peppers. Cook until the garlic has become golden and fragrant.
- Add the prawns and paprika (turn up the heat) and cook for 1-2 minutes per side until pink.
- Pour in the white wine and let reduce for 1 minute.