Catalonian Patatas Bravas - potatoes in a spicy tomato sauce

I’ve just come back from a holiday in sunny Spain, so you might notice a few recipes from there making their way onto this site. Patatas Bravas can always be found in Spanish tapas bars - we definitely found time to eat this dish almost every lunch time!

The portion size for this recipe is for a single tapas dish - usually served either as a starter or with other small tapas dishes.

Ingredients

300g potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
100g tomatoes
Olive oil
Small onion
1 garlic clove
Pinch cayenne pepper
Teaspoon paprika
Crushed chillies
Pinch of sugar

First, prepare the potatoes

• Pre-heat the oven to 200 C.
• Drop the potatoes into boiling water and cook for 5 minutes.
• Heat olive oil in small frying pan and sauté the potatoes until they start to brown on the edges.
• Tip the potatoes and any remaining oil into a shallow dish and put in the oven for 20 minutes

Next, prepare the sauce

• Skin the tomatoes. Do this by cutting a cross into the skin on the top of each tomato, then dropping them into a bowl of boiling water and leaving them there for five minutes. Lift the tomatoes out of the water - the skins should peel off easily.
• Chop the onion and tomatoes into small pieces.
• Fry the onion in the small frying pan for a couple of minutes with the garlic and a large pinch of crushed chillies.
• Add a good shake of paprika and a large pinch of cayenne pepper, along with the chopped tomatoes, a pinch of sugar and a couple of tablespoons of water.
• Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.
• If you prefer your sauce to be smooth, blend the resulting sauce for a few seconds.

Put together and serve!  

• Serve the potatoes in a warm bowl, with the sauce poured over the top. Tapas bars in some parts of Spain also serve some aioli, or garlic mayonnaise, either on the side or on some of the potatoes.

NB: the image with this recipe is a stock image - as soon as our patatas bravas last long enough on the table to be photographed, I’ll add one of my own.

Valencia-style pork chops with peppers and beans

This recipe comes from the east coast of Spain, and it is a great way of spicing up some ordinary pork slices. Serve with a glass of red wine and a salad or rice. Serves 3-4.

Ingredients

450g thin cut boneless pork chops
Medium onion, chopped
Red pepper, de-seeded and chopped
Handful of small chestnut mushrooms, quartered
60g frozen soya beans
Tbsp paprika
Salt
Coarse ground black pepper
Tbsp sunflower oil

Method

• Cut the pork chops into big pieces, I tend to cut each of them into four.
• Sprinkle the pork pieces with liberal amounts of paprika and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion, pepper, mushrooms and add in the frozen soya beans when the onions are part-way cooked.
• Remove the vegetables from the pan, and replace with the pork (don't add any more oil), turn up the heat under the pan and cook the pork until the edges are browned.
• Return the vegetables to the pan and, moving the contents regularly, fry until the meat is browned and cooked through.
• Season with salt and pepper, then serve.

Chorizo and tomato pasta bowl

This is an approximation of a great meal I ate in a small Greek cafe in the Forest of Dean. The windows were all steamy and the plastic tables gave no hint of the delicious meals the staff could serve up. This recipe serves three as a lunch or light supper.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped (or any onion will be fine)

• 250g raw chorizo sausages, cut into bite-sized pieces.

• 55g tomato purée

• One tomato, chopped 

• Eight big handfuls of short pasta, such as fusilli or penne, cooked according to packet instructions (approx 250g)

• Sea salt and black pepper

• Basil

Preparation

• Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium to high heat. Add the onion and cook for two minutes. 

• Add the chorizo and cook for a further five minutes, or until golden brown all over. If you can find soft cooking chorizo, all the better, but any type is fine.

• Add to the pan the tomatoes, tomato puree and a generous scattering of basil, fresh or dried. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for around 12-15 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and either coarsely ground or ground black pepper. 

• Cook the pasta while the chorizo mixture simmers. Drain it and stir the pasta into the sausage mixture, then divide into shallow bowls or plates to serve.