Create your own tapas bar at home! These are easy to make and can be prepared in advance so you can be eating and drinking with your friends rather than scurrying around in the kitchen! Tapas dishes are typically served with generous amounts of olive oil - fantastic for mopping up the flavours with bread. But feel free to cut back on the oil if you prefer! I recommend marinating the olives for 24 hours to allow the flavours to infuse.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Spanish
Servings: 6
Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Ingredients
Garlic Prawns / Shrimp
1/4 cup / 65 mlolive oil
4garlic cloves - 3 smashed, 1 minced
250 g / 8 oz raw prawns, peeled
Pinchof red pepper flakes
Finely chopped parsley
Optional: lemon
Garlic mushrooms
1/4cupolive oil(65 ml)
4garlic cloves - 3 smashed, 1 minced
300 g / 10 oz Swiss brown or other small mushrooms
La Mesa Y Los Amigos Tempranillo Spanish Wine(great with tapas!)
Instructions
Garlic Prawns (Note 1)
Place the smashed garlic in a skillet with the oil over medium heat. Sauté for 10 minutes, squishing the garlic down to squeeze juice out as it cooks, until garlic is golden brown. Then remove and discard garlic.
Sprinkle prawns with salt and pepper. Turn stove up to high. When oil is hot, add prawns and cook for 2 minutes (for medium prawns) or until charred and just cooked. Just before the end, add the minced garlic and quickly saute, then transfer prawns into serving bowl.
Sprinkle with parsley and red pepper flakes if using.
Garlic Mushrooms (Note 1)
Halve or quarter the mushrooms, depending on size.
Follow Garlic Prawn steps, except cook mushrooms instead of prawns. Cook the mushrooms until they are golden.
Chorizo
Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Cook Chorizo until golden on both sides, then transfer to serving bowl, scraping in oil in the skillet.
Marinated Olives (Note 4)
Combine ingredients in an airtight jar. Refrigerate for 24 hours - no longer than 48 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Spanish Antipasto
Bring cheese to room temperature. Place on platter with ham and anchovies.
To Serve
Place serving bowls / platters on table with plenty of bread to dunk into the leftover olive oil. Serve with your favourite Spanish wine!
Notes
1. Garlic Prawns & Garlic Mushrooms - Making this with garlic infused oil is the safest way to cram in garlic flavour without getting burnt bits of garlic (bitter!). To smash garlic, I crush it with the side of my knife so it bursts open but mostly holds together.2. Garlic Prawns, Mushrooms & Chorizo - To make ahead, make the garlic infused oil then set aside (for prawns & mushrooms). Then cook just before your guests arrive - this part is quick. Cover loosely with foil, transfer into heatproof dishes and keep warm in the oven at 80C/175F for up to 30 / 45 minutes. Because they are in so much oil, they stay lovely and juicy, just toss briefly before serving and garnish with parsley. 3. Chorizo - make sure you get RAW chorizo, not the chorizo that is already cured that can be eaten without cooking it (it's like salami).4. Marinated Olives - Seed in olives are better than seedless. In Australia, we get better quality olives over the counter at delis, rather than in jars. I couldn't find good Spanish olives, so I opted for plump Kalamata and Sicilian green olives. Don't worry if they come pre marinated or in olive oil, just drain then use your own marinade. If the olives come in olive oil, I still prefer to use my own because the olive oil used in delis for olives usually isn't the most flavourful. But it's optional for you!CAUTION: Do not consume olives (or anything) with raw garlic after 3 days because minced raw garlic goes off after 3 days (even in the fridge in oil).5. In keeping with the Spanish Fiesta theme, I served this with La Mesa y Los Amigos which is a Tempranillo from Rioja in Spain!! It's a medium bodied dry red that is really smooth to drink, with a subtle hint of spice and I think it pairs beautifully when served with a wide variety of food like a Tapas spread! It's incredibly great value at just ~A$12 per bottle from Dan Murphy's but tastes like a $20 bottle. It's a gem of a find!