The Food Diaries

Garlic & chilli prawns

A fab little Spanish dish (aka tapas).

In a small pan set over a high heat add a glug of olive oil, two large garlic cloves, finely chopped, and 1 red chilli, finely chopped. Stir till the garlic just starts to colour (around a minute). Add 200g raw prawns (peeled) and stir. Add the juice of 1 lime, some sea salt and freshly ground pepper and stir for another minute or so, till the prawns turn pink. Remove from the heat and add a sprinkling of parsley, finely chopped.

Serve with a glass of dry sherry and some crusty bread to mop up the juices.

Serves 2 as an appetizer.

Pan con Tomate

This Spanish tapas recipe is a great way to use up super-ripe tomatoes.

Cut four slices of crusty sourdough baguette and lightly toast. Rub each (one side only) with a cut clove of garlic. Slice two ripe small tomatoes in half and rub the cut sides into the bread, leaving behind as much of the pulp as possible. Discard the skin.

Drizzle with a little olive oil and add a sprinkling of sea salt. Garnish with basil leaves if you have some to hand.

Serves 4.

Variations: Add a slice of serrano ham or manchego cheese for a more substantial snack.

Romesco - a triple pepper sauce from Catalan

Roast 100g whole blanched almonds and 50g hazelnuts on a baking sheet at 180c for about 15 minutes (till lightly toasted). Place in a food processor (or mortar).

Meanwhile take 4 dried noras peppers* and 1/2 dried guindilla pepper*, break open and remove the seeds. Crumble a bit more into a bowl and cover with a little boiling water. Once soft, transfer the peppers to the food processor. Reserve the liquid.

Next, fry 3 whole garlic cloves (peeled) in 3-6 tbs olive oil (depending on your concerns about your waistline!) till lightly browned. Transfer the cloves to the food processor. Fry 50g stale white bread, cut into small cubes, in the remaining oil. Transfer the bread to the food processor.

Add 150g roasted piquillo peppers (I get mine from a jar) to the food processor and pulse until you get a coarse paste. Add the olive oil from the pan, 2 tbs sherry or red wine vinegar, 1tsp tomato puree, a large pinch of saffron infused in a little hot water (add both), some sea salt and 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika. Pulse again. Add a little of the dried pepper water to thin the sauce a little (it should still be quite thick).

Serve with roasted chicken (as in the photo above along with steamed kale and roasted lemons), grilled fish or lamb, or spread on country-style bread with crumbled feta cheese to make a sandwich.

*Substitutions: The noras pepper is sweet and mild so you could also use the passilla ancho Mexican dried chili instead (or failing that, some mild sweet paprika). To substitute for the guindilla pepper you could use the gaujillo Mexican dried chili or 1 small regular dried hot chili.

Pink & white beets with yogurt dressing

This is a fabulous little recipe from the Moro cookbook - Moro being one of my all-time favourite restaurants in London; situated in lovely Exmouth Market and specialising in Moorish food (i.e. the cuisine of North Africa and Southern Spain).

If you can get your hands on beets other than the standard dark variety (i.e. golden, candy-striped, pink, white) than so much the better. These can usually be found in farmer’s market, so ask around or just look out for beets that have a slightly lighter exterior.

Take 500g beets, rinse and place in a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until you can easily pierce the centre with a sharp knife (up to an hour). Run under cold water while rubbing off the skin (it should come off easily if completely cooked). Slice in half across the width and then in wedges (4 or 8 pieces depending on the size). Toss with the juice of 1 lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. You can now store the beets with the light dressing in the refrigerator, to use at a later date if you like. They will keep well for a few days.

To prepare the yogurt dressing pound one large, peeled garlic clove with a little coarse sea salt in a mortar or pestle. You can also do the same using the flat side of a large knife. Stir in 125ml (1/2 cup) Greek yogurt. You may need to add a little bit of water to loosen the dressing if the yogurt is strained and very thick.

Once ready to serve, place the beets on a wide serving dish and sprinkle with a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Drop a large dollop of the yogurt on top of the beets. Drizzle everything with some olive oil (you can also use any of the liquid that collected at the bottom of the beets while being stored). Sprinkle with chopped parsley and some nigella seeds (or black onion seeds - you can find these in Indian or Turkish shops).

Serve with warmed pita bread.