Spanish anchovy, egg and crouton salad

This flavour packed recipe is adapted from Rick Steins book called Spain. It’s a kind of Spanish version of Caesar salad and I’ve changed it slightly suit my tastes. I’ve replaced the little gem lettuces with radicchio and added my favourite salad veg, but it’s up to you which lettuce you prefer and the anchovies have gone in the dressing instead of laying them on top of the salad as I love them in the dressing. It’s my favourite with grilled fish like a big Dover sole.

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baccalà mantecato

I had this Venetian tapas served with drinks in Venice. It is unbelievably delicious and perfect as canapés and as an hors d’œuvre or just for lunch. It’s also been served on polenta in Harry’s Bar for decades. The salt cod is whipped to a smooth consistency with olive oil and slavered on crostini or polenta. You can now get salt cod in the international section in most supermarkets or in Caribbean, Spanish and Italian delis.

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spanish orange glazed squid

I have a oldish Spanish cookbook with fantastic recipes in it that are great as tapas. I’m working my way through it pretending I’m in Barcelona. This recipe from that book has the sweetness of oranges which work really well with squid and the smokiness of the smoked paprika giving it a real Spanish vibe. I’ve tweaked it slightly and replaced the sugar with maple syrup so it’s low glycemic. You can eat it as tapas with other small plates or combine it with pasta as I did. I bought my black pasta from my Italian deli but it works equally well with plain old standard spaghetti or Linguine. It’s perfect for a dinner party or a date night. My friend Timna says it’s up there with my crab Linguine as one of the best things she’s ever tasted.

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roasted cauliflower with chilli and anchovies

This recipe is Spanish and it’s a really tasty way to cook cauliflower. It’s got lots of garlic and chilli so it’s a fantastic side dish to cook with baked fish or with other salads. It’s also got healthy lemon and parsley so it’s packed with vitamins and also very low carb. It can be served hot or at room temperature.

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spanish clams

I have taken the flavours of a classic Spanish clam stew and rejigged it so it tastes great even though there is no meat in it. Normally it would have Chorizo in it, so I used smoked paprika which is the flavor of Chorizo instead and it tastes just as good. It’s a really easy recipe and great for a date night. Also, the frozen Clams were a bargain £3.59 for 500g in the freezer section of Waitrose. I always buy a few boxes and keep them in the freezer just in case. They are delicious with roasted sourdough or my homemade fries or roast potatoes.

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paella

Hola! This is one of my favourite dishes ever.

I make it with a lower ratio of rice to seafood so it’s mostly seafood, which makes it more delicious and healthier. My version is created with all the amazing moorish flavours that are really special as I combined all the best bits from each Spanish recipe I could find and reworked it and it is really simple to make and only needs one pan. My friends think it is the best paella they’ve ever had, partly because the seafood is steamed on the rice for the last ten minutes so it’s tender and not dried out and over cooked. If you are feeding more people just double or triple the quantities, as needed. Just make sure you use a big enough pan.

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