Olive Oil & Garlic

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zordor/ / CC BY 2.0

This is a traditional dish from central Spain that makes a great side dish.  I have also seen it served as a tapa in bars.

Pisto Manchego

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

1 medium onion

2 small zucchini

2 cloves of garlic

4 cups of peeled and chopped tomatoes

1 small bunch of chopped parsley (about 2 tablespoons)

Chop the onion, peppers, zucchini into 1/2 inch pieces and mince the garlic.  Heat the oil over medium heat in a saute pan or an earthenware cazuela.  Saute the vegetables for a few minutes, and then add the tomatoes.  Cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes, until the stew has a very thick consistency.  It is often served with a fried or hard boiled egg on top, as shown in the photo.

I don’t know how to classify this recipe, since I sort of came up with it on my own.  I’ll call it Mediterranean cuisine because of the ingredients, but thats sort of a catch-all category for recipes that don’t fit into any particular Mediterranean region. Use a good quality, spicy paprika such as Pimentón del la Vega (I’ll post info later on where you can get it).

Stuffed Zucchini (serves 2 as a side dish)

1 or 2 medium zucchini

1 small eggplant or 1/2 large eggplant

3 large mushrooms

1 clove garlic, crushed

olive oil

salt

Pimentón (Spanish Paprika)

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes.  Then remove the seedy, fibrous center to make room for the filling.  Chop the eggplant and mushrooms into a small (1/2 cm or 1/4 inch) dice.  In a saute pan over medium heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and the garlic.  Saute the garlic for a few seconds to let it impart its flavor into the oil, and then add the eggplant and mushrooms.  Saute for a few minutes and then flavor with salt and a pinch of pimentón.  I like to use a about a 1/2 tsp. of  pimentón, which is a lot for this small dish.  I mix spicy and sweet varieties.  Fill the zucchinis with the eggplant and mushrooms and serve immediately, or prepare the zucchinis and filling before hand and keep in the refrigerator.  You can fill them and then heat them in a hot oven or microwave just before serving.

photo courtesy of tomcensani

Here in Salamanca, Spain the weather is starting to get hot, so its time to make gazpacho. It’s basically an uncooked vegetable soup that is usually served chilled, making it a great summertime dish.   There are a lot of variations on the basic recipe.  Mine is very easy to make so we have gazpacho several times a week when we can find good tomatoes.  I use the tomatoes with their skins and seeds and just put them in the blender with the other ingredients, so this recipe only takes a few minutes to prepare.

Gazpacho

2 large tomatoes – I like beefsteak varieties for this dish

1 cucumber, peeled

1/4 yellow onion

1 clove garlic

1 stalk celery

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 green bell pepper

3 Tablespoons olive oil

Dash of wine vinegar – more or less to taste

Salt

Adjust the amounts of the ingredients to fit your kitchen blender.  Coarsely chop the tomatoes and add them to the blender, along with the olive oil.  Blend them for a few seconds.  Depending on how pulpy the tomatoes are, you may need to add a little water to get them to blend.  Coarsely chop the other vegetables and add them to the blender.  Blend them for a minute until the consistency is smooth and add salt and vinegar to taste.