Tapas

I cannot underscore how much I love that my husband loves a good kitchen challenge. We have been saying for weeks months that we wanted to do a tapas night. We even went out of our way to make sure and buy the "Spanish" cookbook from World Market, since we love our other country-specific cuisine books we've gotten from there. When Will was back in town for five days, we decided it was finally time to make these foods. He went out and got all the ingredients, so there would be no turning back. Being the wonderful and understanding man he is, he didn't even expect me to help prepare this dinner, hah! We even scheduled to have it on a Friday night of one of my yoga teacher training weekends, which are in Richmond. After the long trek back, I came home to find this beautifully presented, professionally-cooked tapas night, waiting for me!


If you've never enjoyed the experience of Spanish tapas, I am sad for you. You need to get yourself to a Spanish restaurant ASAP! My first experience was a high school field trip to Jaleo, which has a few locations in the DC Metro area. Will hadn't even really had much experience with tapas, before I insisted that we do a tapas night. It's just a really fun way to try some new foods, in smaller doses. I love eating appetizers for dinner (guac or hummus can easily be a meal for me), so I think that's why I'm so inclined to enjoy tapas. Either way, Will had fun making these for us and now we're even more motivated to try the local Spanish restaurant here in Williamsburg! Don't be afraid to try these recipes and enjoy!

Cooking Notes for the Empanadas: Will got the wrong kind of pastry dough, so he ended up using fillo dough instead of puff pastry. It still turned out well!

Artichoke & Jamon Empanadas (adapted from Spanish by World Market; serves 4)
5 oz. marinated artichokes, drained and roughly chopped
2 oz. jamon (or prosciutto), chopped
4 oz. Swiss cheese, grated
1 egg, separated, yolk lightly beaten
Fresh ground black pepper
9 oz. ready-rolled puff pastry

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats. Mix the artichokes in a small bowl with the ham, cheese and egg yolk. Season with pepper.

Cut the pastry into 2 1/2" circles. Spoon a little of the artichoke mixture in the center of each pastry round, then fold over to form a semicircle shape. Pinch the pastry together to seal, then place on the prepared baking sheets. Brush the empanadas with egg white. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy!

Cooking Notes for the Prawns: The recipe calls for sweet Spanish paprika, but we just used the regular sweet paprika we had on hand. The recipe also called for raw prawns, but we saved a few pennies by purchasing uncooked, deveined shrimp. I also don't think we used all two pounds that it calls for, but we did have quite a few shrimpies so it's possible. We also didn't have a fresh lemon on hand to squeeze, so we used lemon juice.








Paprika Prawns with Avocado Salsa (adapted from Spanish by World Market; serves 4)
Prawns
6 tbsp butter
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp sweet paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
2 lb. prawns/shrimp


Avocado Salsa
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 avocado, peeled, pit removed, and cubed
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sweet paprika

Begin with the prawns. Place butter, olive oil, S&P, paprika and cumin in a large bowl and mix well. Shell shrimp, leaving tails intact. Add prawns to the bowl, stirring to coat and then set aside.

Next, make the avocado salsa. Put the onion, garlic, and avocado in a small bowl. Whisk olive oil, lemon juice and paprika together, then pour over the avocado and stir gently to coat. Cover and refrigerate while you cook the prawns.

Preheat the broiler to hot. Cook prawns for 4-5 minutes, turning once or twice and brushing with the marinade. Cook until flesh turns pink and opaque. Serve immediately with the avocado salsa and enjoy!