Paella Recipe

Paella is a typical Spanish dish and is traditionally cooked in a "paellera" - a round flat pan with two handles - which is then put on the table. It is normally made using shellfish but can also be made with chicken or rabbit. In many Spanish villages, especially in coastal areas, they use a giant paellera to cook a paella on festival days which is big enough to feed everybody.

A paella is very flexible so if you don’t have the exact ingredients or if you find some of them hard to get hold of, substitute them for something similar. Getting fresh shellfish can be a problem, but you can always use frozen fish and use fish stock instead of water to increase the flavour.

There are literally hundreds of ways to cook a paella and every cook has their own favourite recipe. Here’s mine (it will serve 6 people depending on how hungry you are):

INGREDIENTS:
1 small onion, finely chopped

1 green pepper, finely chopped

½ red pepper, boiled until soft and then cut into long thin strips

2 medium-sized tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

100g peas, cooked

200g prawns (if using cooked prawns substitute fish stock for the water)

200g small clams

200g squid

12 mussels

350g rice (traditionally short grain rice is used but I prefer to use long grain)

2 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped

a pinch of saffron strands (if you can’t get saffron, use yellow food colouring instead and add it once you have added the liquid)

a sprig of parsley, finely chopped

olive oil

about 800ml water

PREPARATION:
MUSSELS: Wash the mussels, removing the beards. Throw away any that don’t shut on contact with water.

FRESH SQUID: Rub off the outer dark skin. Pull out the insides (including the transparent back bone) and pinch the eye away from the tentacles. Save the tentacles. Cut the squid into rings.

CLAMS: Wash in water and then put in a bowl with some salt so that the grit comes out. Throw away any that are open.

PRAWNS: Whether you peel them or not is up to you. If you decide to peel them, save the shells and boil in water for about ten minutes. Save the liquid and add later instead of water.

GARLIC: In a pestle and mortar, grind the garlic, saffron (if using), parsley and a pinch of salt.

RECIPE:
Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion, green pepper and carrot and fry gently for about five minutes. Add the chopped tomato and squid (with the tentacles) and fry on a low heat for another ten minutes.

Add the rice and stir well to make sure that it is thoroughly coated. Add water (or the water from boiling the prawn shells or fish stock if using frozen fish), clams and the garlic/saffron/parsley mixture and bring to the boil. Season with salt. Put a lid on it, turn the heat right down and cook very slowly for about ten minutes. Add the prawns and peas and give it a stir. Arrange the mussels and strips of red pepper artistically on top, put the lid back on and leave for another ten minutes - checking that it has enough water. If you think it is getting too dry, add more water, but shake the handle of the pan rather than stir so as not to upset the pattern. Once the rice is cooked and the mussels have opened, it is ready to eat.

TORTILLA DE PATATAS
Spanish Omelette

Tortilla de patatas is basically a potato omelette (about 4cm thick). It is popular all over Spain and often served in bars as a tapa and is eaten either hot or cold. Some people prefer to make it without the onions.

INGREDIENTS:
4 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

6 eggs

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

¼ litre olive oil

salt

RECIPE:
First, heat the oil in a large frying pan and then gently fry the sliced potatoes until almost soft, stirring from time to time so that they don't burn on the bottom of the pan. Add the onion and the green pepper and continue frying until all the vegetables are soft. Drain the vegetables in a colander to get rid of the excess oil.

Beat the eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the potatoes, etc. and mix well and check seasoning.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan on a moderate heat. Pour in the potatoes and eggs and shake the frying pan from time to time so that the omelette doesn't stick to the bottom. Once the bottom of the omelette has set, turn the heat down low and cover the pan. After about ten minutes, turn the omelette by placing either a flat plate or saucepan lid on the frying pan and quickly turning over. Gently slide the omelette back into the frying pan and continue frying, once again shaking the pan from time to time so that it doesn't stick to the bottom, until it has set all the way through.

PATATAS A LO POBRE

This could roughly be translated as "Poor man’s potatoes" and is a simple dish of slowly fried potatoes, green peppers and onions. A more substantial version is called "Plato Alpujarreño" (named after the Alpujarra mountains just south of Granada where it is traditionally served) Pieces of Spanish spicy chorizo sausage and black pudding are added at the end along with a couple of fried eggs. The recipe below is for the simple version: Here in Andalucia this is a typical dish which is served in a "venta". A "venta" is a small simple restaurant in the country where city dwellers go out with their family or friends to eat in the country usually on a Sunday and normally in the open air.

INGREDIENTS:
4 large potatoes, thinly sliced (leave in water for about 20 minutes to get rid of the starch and then drain)

1 green pepper, either roughly chopped or cut into thick strips

1 onion, roughly chopped

about ½ litre olive oil

salt

RECIPE:
Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan. Add the potatoes and season with salt. Fry on a high heat for 5 minutes, turning the potatoes over, and then turn the heat right down. Put a lid on the pan and gently fry for 10 minutes. Add the green pepper and onion and give everything a good stir. Cover the pan and leave to fry gently for another 10 minutes. Check from time to time to make sure that they are not sticking too much to the bottom of the pan.

At the end of this time look to see whether the potatoes are cooked and taste for salt, adding more if necessary. The idea is for the potatoes to be soft but with some of them a bit crispier to add to the flavour. If the potatoes are not cooked, put the lid back on and leave for another 5 minutes or so. Remove the potatoes from the pan with a slatted spoon and serve.

Habas con Jamón

This is a delicious dish best made with fresh broad beans and mountain-cured Serrano ham. It works best with large spring onions or scallions, which have a gentler flavour than normal onions.

INGREDIENTS:
2 kg broad beans, podded

100g mountain-cured Serrano ham, chopped

2 small onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

olive oil

salt

RECIPE:
First, heat the oil in a frying pan and then add the chopped onion and garlic. Fry gently until soft and then add the ham and fry for another 5 minutes. Add the broad beans and stir-fry for another couple of minutes. Cover the frying pan and turn the heat down very low. Cook on a low heat until the beans are soft (add a little water if necessary). Season with salt.

Gazpacho (Spain)

Gazpacho is a cold tomato-based soup and is a speciality of Andalucía, served in restaurants and bars. In bars, it tends to be more liquid and is drunk from a glass whereas in restaurants it is normally served in a bowl with a garnish of chopped vegetables. Depending on who makes it, it can vary from a watered-down orange liquid without much taste to a deliciously refreshing drink.

The important thing is to chill it thoroughly before serving. Some people add ice but this tends to water it down too much. In Córdoba, they make a thicker variation called Salmorejo.

Once again, there are many different ways of preparing it but here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
1½ kg red tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 - 3 cloves garlic

1 small cucumber (or half a long cucumber), chopped

1 small bread roll, soaked in water

olive oil

white wine vinegar

salt

water

RECIPE:
There are two ways of preparing gazpacho: you can either use an electric food processor/blender and then pass it through a sieve, or you can use a food mill (a mouli). The important thing is to get rid of all the pips, skins, etc.

First, blend and sieve, or mill, all the vegetables into a large bowl. Then squeeze the water out of the bread roll and add to the tomato/vegetable mixture. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and a tablespoon of vinegar. Season with salt and blend well. Check the taste and add as much water as necessary depending on whether you will be drinking or eating it with a spoon. Chill thoroughly before serving. If you are using bowls, finely chop some cucumber, green pepper, tomato, and hard-boiled egg to use for the garnish.