This is an absolutely lovely side dish for an autumnal Sunday lunch and is my decidedly Mediterranean take on the standard roast potato. Here, the potatoes are new and coated in a sumptuous mix of olive oil, tomato paste and fiery smoked paprika. It is inspired by a dish I first came across in La…
Category: Spain
Spanish Paprika-baked White Beans with a Sourdough and Manchego Cheese Crust
A few years ago I stumbled upon an crumbling bar nestling amongst the sprawling tobacco fields that surround that architectural wonder of Granada in the south of Spain. The heat that day was suffocating and the aroma of tobacco leaves and the spicy earth was heady, almost too much to bear. Lured by the prospect…
Caldo Gallego, a Spanish White Bean Soup with Sherry Vinegar
A beautiful dish for early autumn evenings, this beautiful aniseedy broth with lightly braised haricot beans, tomatoes, courgette and fennel is seasoned with a really good Spanish sherry vinegar, chilli and fennel seeds but it’s the punchy mojo verde – a garlicky green herb and garlic sauce originating from the Canary Islands – that makes…
An Andalusian Lemon-scented White Bean Dip
These sunny high summer days are all the motivation we need push open the French windows and think about creating lighter and vibrant sharing plates. This vibrant vegan dip is inspired by a gorgeous little whitewashed bar high up in the Andalucían mountains where I was once served a warm tapa of plump white beans,…
Tarifa Leek and Artichoke Tart, Tarta de Puerros y Alcachofas
The stunning whitewashed town of Tarifa forms part of the glittering municipality of Cádiz where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet – known as Costa de la Luz, the coast of light. Here, the winds can be phenomenally strong so, by day people head to the stunning windswept beach to surf – by board or…
Cádiz Tortilla de Patatas, a Spanish Omelette
For a time, I lived close to Cádiz in Andalusía, the southernmost point of the country where the Atlantic crashes into the Mediterranean. It’s a beautiful city with a laid-back vibe, brilliant seafood and a maze of curved streets bathed in intensely luminous white sunlight. It’s a place described by the novelist Laurie Lee as “a scribble…
Picasso’s Omelette Niçoise with a Classic Salade Verte à la Française
For Pablo Picasso, food was a central part of life. From the age of 17, he auctioned his sketches for around one peseta (about the same price as a bottle of house wine) to raise money for his supper at Barcelona’s El Quatre Gats (The Four Cats) restaurant – for whom he designed their classic menu and…
Roast Chestnut, Mushroom and Oloroso Sherry Tart
A nigh on perfect Andalusian tart for a bright autumnal Sunday lunch. All butter pastry encased around caramelised red onions, wild mushrooms, roast chestnuts, fresh lemon thyme and gently stirred with fragrant oloroso sherry and a generous knob of butter. I put some pieces of creamy citrusy Caerphilly cheese on top of this one just to…
Mallorcan Orange, Almond and Fig Cake
So many of you have asked for the recipe for this super moist gluten-free Mallorcan orange, almond and fig cake which often features on my restaurant menu. It is inspired by the miles and miles of fragrant blossoming orange and almond trees we passed by as we travelled via the extraordinary antique train – El Tren…
Butterbean, Broccoli and Sugar Snap Salad with Mallorcan Caper and Sultana Dressing
Some years back, way before the Internet had begun to rule our lives, the married owners of a design studio I worked for hired an old stone farmhouse deep in the Mallorcan countryside. Their intention was to take the whole summer off which meant that a couple of us had to volunteer to take papers and…
