Family Theme Night - Spanish Tapas
No need to let family meals lapse into the same flavours week in week out! All you need to do is get a bit of inspiration and try out some new meals around the dinner table. You may even find that the new additions become firm favourites.
One of the best ways to do this is take inspiration from another culture’s dishes and traditions, and turn these into easy recipes you can make at home. A great source of different flavours is traditional Spanish Tapas, which allows you to sample lots of small dishes at once. Below we have included some of the most common Tapas dishes, along with little tips and tricks to make them easy to make.
"No need to let family meals lapse into the same flavours week in week out!"
Try Something New
Patatas Bravas
A staple of any Tapas night, Patatas Bravas are cubed potatoes complete with a spicy tomato sauce. As you can imagine, this recipe can be as simple or complicated as you make it, and can easily be adapted for being child-friendly by simplifying the sauce and taking out the chilli’s.
First start out by cutting potatoes into small cubes. Cover the cubes of potato in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. After ten minutes in the oven (220C), add a tin of tomatoes and crushed garlic, cooking for a further 30 minutes, or until crispy on the outside.
Albondigas (Meatballs)
These Pork and Beef meatballs are another must on Tapas night, and once again can be made with fairly simple ingredients. If you are feeling brave you can make the meatballs from scratch, but you can also buy them pre-made, then simply add the sauce afterward. Conveniently, the sauce is also the same as Patatas Bravas, so much make twice as much if you’re having both dishes!
Spanish Tortilla
Another potato based dish, but equally delicious, Spanish Tortilla always makes for a good addition to Tapas night. Simple ingredients and easy to prepare, this will give your Tapas night the right amount of authenticity!
Cook onions in a pan until they are soft, and add thinly sliced potatoes and cook them for 15 mins. Crush garlic cloves and add 8 beaten eggs, before cooking for another 20 minutes with the lid on the pan. Turn it over in the pan by tipping onto a plate and flipping over to cook the other side.
Paella
Paella is more of a larger addition to your smaller Tapas dishes but always makes for a good Spanish addition. It is usually made with seafood but can easily be done with chicken and chorizo, or just vegetarian. It is incredibly easy, and the ingredients basically need to be mixed together and left to cook in the pan.
This incredibly tasty dish starts out with cooking onions until they’re soft, stirring in Paella or Risotto rice and adding a can of chopped tomatoes and 900ml of chicken stock which will cook the rice over 15 mins. Then add in your pre-cooked seafood, which can include prawns, white fish and mussels, cooking for five minutes or until the seafood is warm.
Here at The Food Warehouse, we stock a huge amount of fresh produce available for you to create your very own Spanish Tapas night. Check out our products or see our full range in store today!
