Gluten free tapas, part one: chorizo, prawns, meatballs, and plenty of red wine

Operation ‘get fit or die trying‘ has failed this week after doing my back in, so it seemed only fair to enjoy a treat night in the form of tapas, red wine and good friends.

I’ve always wanted to try cooking tapas; it’s one of my favourite foods and I love having it when we go to restaurants.

I love being able to pick and choose from the different dishes, mixing the various foods together and creating exciting new flavours.

All made all the more worthwhile with a good splash of delicious red wine. Move over rose, this is my new favourite treat.

On the menu for Saturday, was…

• Chicken with crispy garlic slices
• Chorizo and red wine
• Spanish meatballs
• Ciabattas with goats cheese, roasted red pepper and parma ham
• Spanish omelette
• Prawns in chilli and garlic oil
• Salad
• Crisps and dips

Ok, so a bit of a mish mash of dishes, but it was a great evening and there was something for everyone!

One of the hardest things when cooking so many dishes is to try and get the timing right. You don’t want to end up with some stuff uncooked while other dishes are burnt to a crisp.

I decided to cook the meatballs, chorizo and chicken first – dishes I was happy would benefit from finishing off in the oven – while the prawns and omelette were cooked to serve straight away.

As there’s so many dishes, I’m going to break this down into two posts, so here’s the first in my installment of gluten free tapas.

(Note: this was all cooked to serve four hungry people!)

Chorizo in red wine

(Please ignore the crappy photos, I was in too much of a hurry to eat to get my camera!)

One chorizo sausage

1 tsp olive oil

red wine

1. Chop the chorizo into even slices about as thick as a pound coin.
2. Add the olive oil into a pan and heat gently
3. Lay the chorizo slices into the pan to form one even layer
4. Pour over the wine until all of the slices are covered.
5. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then add to an over proof dish and keep on a low heat to keep warm until serving.

This is a really tasty dish, and you generally only need a small amount per person to pack a big flavour punch!

Spanish meatballs

500g lean steak mince

340g sliced black olives in brine (drained)

1 tin chopped plum tomatoes

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic (crushed)

1 tbsp red wine

1 tsp olive oil

1. Add the mince, paprika and half of the onion to a mixing bowl and mix well together
2. Add the olive oil to a pan and heat gently. Form the mince mixture into small balls, the size of golf balls, and add to the pan with the rest of the onions and the clove of garlic.
3. Fry until brown on all sides
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, chopped olives and wine to the pan and simmer gently.
5. Place into an over proof dish and place into an oven on a low heat until serving.

These are great because the longer you leave it in the oven, the more the sauce thickens and the flavour intensifies, yum!

Prawns in chilli and garlic oil

200g raw king prawns

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tsp chilli flakes

1. Heat the oil, garlic and chilli flakes in a large frying pan
2. Add the prawns and cook for around 5 minutes, until the prawns turn pink
3. Serve straight away, hot and sizzling!

Tip, these are great if you have some warm gluten free bread to mop up the oil, delicious!

Want more?

You’ll have to wait for part two of my gluten free tapas adventure! Stay tuned!

What’s your favourite tapas dish? I’d love to hear your recipes and suggestions!