Viva Espana!

Appetizer

Piquillo Peppers and Manchego Cheese

Dinner

One of my favorite Spanish dishes is Paella! I love everything about it and have gotten quite good at making it in various ways.  Along with being a fan of all things Italian! I am in love with Spanish food. Someday I will go to Spain and learn how to cook (and then swing down to Italy)! I think what I love the most is their fresh ingredients, a little difficult here in Fort Collins. 

I took this from one of my favorite cookbooks; Spain on the Road Again! Yummers! This is so good!I purchased a paella pan and use it often. You don't have to have a paella pan to make paella either.

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 10 to 12 large scampi or prawns
• 1 medium Spanish onion, cut into 1/4 inch dice
• 1/2 cup pureed ripe tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 tablespoon sweet pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika)
• 1 pound cleaned calamari (I skip the tentacles), cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 quarts Fish/Veggie or Chicken Stock
• 2 cups Bomba rice
• 1 pound lobster
• 1 pound Manila clams, scrubbed
• 1 pound of mussels

PHeat a 14- to 18-inch paella pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and heat until smoking. Add the scampi and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add the onion to the pan and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the tomato puree, stirring it into the onions, and cook for 3 minutes. Add the salt, saffron, pimentón, and calamari and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until the calamari firms up slightly. Add the stock, bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir well to distribute it evenly. Add lobster, mussels and clams, arranging them in nicely, bring the stock back to a boil, and cook, without stirring, for 10 minutes. Reintroduce shrimp to paella, taste for salt and add it if needed, then cook, again without stirring, for 10-15 more minutes, or until the liquid is almost completely absorbed and the pan starts to make a crackling noise (don’t worry, this is what you want). Remove from the heat and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Dessert

For dessert I made a traditional Spanish dessert I found online. I have attached the link! It was sooo yummy! I am actually surprised they made it to the dishes as Jeremy and I were having spoon fulls hot off the stove!


Crema Catalana

As much as Jeremy and I strive to be local, organic, etc...it is hard when you love certain food! However, the dessert we used our own eggs, local milk, organic everything else. The paella the onion is local (farmers market) and homemade stock. You can't win them all...but you can try to win most of them!