Spanish recipes from Omelette to Paella

Here we present you a selection of typical Spanish recipes.

If you have rented a country house or an apartment in Spain which disposes of a kitchen, and during your holidays or maybe even long weekend break you feel like cooking but are not sure what to prepare or just want to try something new, have a look at these recipes.

The ingredients are indicated for 4 people.

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SPANISH OMELETTE (TORTILLA DE PATATA). Ingredients: 1 kg potatoes, 8 eggs, olive oil, 1 onion

Peel the potatoes, wash them thoroughly and cut them into thin slices. Chop the onion. Heat oil in a frying pan and add the salted potatoes. Stir them until they are slightly cooked; Then add the onion and let it fry during 3 or 4 minutes. Beat the eggs and add the fried potatoes. Mix well. Cook them on a high flame. Brown on one side and then turn the omelette over to brown it on the other, being careful not to dry it.

A GALICIAN RECIPE FOR HAKE (MERLUZA A LA GALLEGA). Ingredients: 1 kg hake, olive oil, a big onion, 2 kg potatoes, 1 tablespoon full of flour. Seasoning: Salt, garlic, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, paprika

Cut the central part of the fish into thick slices. Heat the oil in a saucepan, chop the onion and fry it; stir continuously until it turns golden brown. Add two cloves of mashed garlic, a tablespoon full of chopped parsley, a levelled one of paprika, cut the potatoes into not very thick slices (about 6 mm), mix well and sprinkle the spoonful of flour over everything. When the potatoes are slightly cooked add water to cover them, salt as well as six peppercorns, a powdered clove, bay leaf, thyme and parsley. Let it simmer for a quarter of an hour and when the potatoes are boiled, put them into a clay casserole. Arrange the slightly salted hake slices over the potatoes. Put it into the oven for another ten or twelve minutes. Serve it in the clay casserole.

PIL-PIL CODFISH (BACALAO AL PIL-PIL). Ingredients: 600 grs. cod, 1/2 l olive oil, 1 bulb of garlic, 1/2 guindilla (chilli pepper)

Soak the cod in cold water for 24 to 36 hours and change the water several times. Before preparing the dish remove carefully all the bones from each piece; wash it again. Place the fish in a saucepan with fresh water and put it on a low flame until it warms up, not boils. Remove the froth when it begins to form on the surface . Take the pieces of fish out of the pan and spread them out on a cloth to drain. Meanwhile heat the oil, if possible in a clay caserole, together with the garlic in lengthwise slices and the hot chilli pepper (do not use pepper if you don't like spicy foods).

When turned into deep golden brown, take them out and set them aside on a plate. Arrange now the fish with the skinside towards the bottom of the casserole and begin to shake it ceaselessly in a rhythmic manner. As the hot oil passes over the fish, the gelatine is brought out of the skin and it serves to thicken the emerging sauce. This will take between 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the quality of the cod. It is important to bear in mind that while shaking, the casserole must be removed from the heat because the oil remains hot for quite some time. When the sauce looks like light mayonnaise, the dish is ready. Put the the garlic and red pepper previously set aside on the top and heat the dish briefly to warm it up again. At the same time, keep moving the casserole gently so that the sauce does not lose consistency. Serve immediately.

CHICKEN WITH TOMATOES AND PEPPERS (POLLO AL CHILINDRON). Ingredients: 1 chicken of about 2 kgs, 4 big tomatoes, 4 small green peppers, 1 big onion, olive oil 200, grs. semi-cured ham, 1 glass of white wine. Seasoning: Garlic, chilli pepper, salt

Cut the the chicken into pieces and fry them until they turn golden brown; set them aside. Prepare a fried mixture of tomato, green pepper, onion, chilli pepper and plenty of chopped garlic. Add the chicken to the fried mixture and cook it for around 15 minutes. Then add the thin sliced semi-cured ham and the glass of white wine; let it simmer roughly for another 10 minutes.

CATALAN RECIPE FOR BROAD BEANS (HABAS A LA CATALANA). Ingredients: 1 kg broad beans, 1/4 kilo bacon, 3 chorizos (hard pork sausage), olive oil, 1 onion, 1 glass liquor, 2 glasses white wine. Seasoning: Garlic, salt, pepper, mint

Cook the shelled beans in salted water. When being half done, empty out some water leaving enough for the beans to be covered. Fry slightly a couple of garlic cloves, chopped onion, pepper and mint . Add the cup of liquor and the two glasses of white wine. Mix it with the beans. Finally, add the thin sliced bacon and chorizo and let it cook on a high flame for 10 minutes.

MIXED PAELLA. Ingredients (for six people): 600 grs rice, 1 kg chicken, ½ rabbit, 2 squids, ¼ small clams, ¼ prawns, peas, olive oil, 1 tomato 1 big onion, 2 cloves, garlic, 1 red pepper, a small speck of saffron, salt. *Add two cups and a half of broth for each of rice

Place the saucepan over the fire with olive oil; add the chicken and rabbit cut into slices when it gets hot and fry them on a low flame until they get gold brown. Set them aside. Fry the chopped onion, red pepper, a pair of clove garlic and the tomato; add te squids and small clams. When being browned, add water, salt and the fried chicken and rabbit. Let it simmer for half an hour. Pour the broth and the rest of the ingredients into the paellera (special pan for cooking paellas) and when it bols again, add the rice and prawns. Stirr it and let it cook for 20 minutes on a normal flame till the broth dries up and the rice is ready.

ANDALUSIAN GAZPACHO (GAZPACHO ANDALUZ). Ingredients: 1 kg tomatoes, 1 kg cucumbers, 1 big onion, a speck of cumin seeds, ½ green pepper, 3 cloves garlic, salt, olive oil, vinegar, water

Place all the ingredients cut into pieces in a saucepan or deep vessel. Crush the garlic and cumins in a mortar and mix it in the recipient. Add a little of water, salt, olive oil and vinegar to taste and grind it well with the electric mixer. Serve cool.

CASTILIAN GARLIC SOUP (SOPA DE AJO CASTELLANA). Ingredients: 100 grs. olive oil, 100 grs bread from the day before in slices, 100 grs. cured ham, 3 cloves garlic, 6 eggs, 1 tablespoon full sweet paprika, 1 l water

Heat the oil and add the not-too-thin sliced garlic. Before the garlic has turned brown, add the cubes of ham and the slices of bread. Let it cook for a few minutes and then add the paprika, followed by water and salt. Bring to boil and then poach the eggs.

EXTREMADURAN STEW (CALDERETA EXTREMEÑA). Ingredients: 1 kg kid goat or lamb, 1 liver from either, 1 glass pitarra (Extremaduran home-made wine) or white wine, olive oil, 1 red pepper. Seasoning: Garlic, bay leaf, black pepper, paprika and salt

Put the oil in a casserole, fry a couple of garlic cloves and set them aside. Cut the meat into small pieces and add them to the casserole together with a little paprika and some bay leaves, after which it is left to cook for a while. Then a glass of pitarra or something similar is added, and everything is left to simmer until all the wine is absorbed. Then water is added in small amounts, making sure that the sauce remains thick. When the meat is tender, roast three more garlic cloves and crush them with the other two fried ones in a mortar. Add the roasted liver to this, together with some peppercorns, a few drops of olive oil and the red pepper. Crush all the ingredients, mix well and add them to the casserole, let them boil until the sauce is thick enough. Serve at once.

PISTO FROM LA MANCHA (PISTO MANCHEGO). Ingredients: 1 kg ripe tomatoes, 1 kg green peppers, olive oil, salt

Chop the peppers and fry them with plenty of olive oil on a normal flame. When being slightly browned, add salt and the peeled and chopped tomatoes. Let it cook and stir the mixture from time to time until the broth dries up completely.