- SPAIN
- SLOVENIA
- GREECE
Spanish Gastronomy Has Extra Virgin Olive Oil As A Fundamental Ingredient. We Use It In Hot And Cold Soups, Vegetable, Meat And Fish Stews And In Confectionery. Here Are Some Of The Most Representative Recipes Using Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Ingredients (4 people):
- 100g of raw almonds
- 100g of breadcrumbs
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 100cl of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1l of water
- 1 spoonful of sherry vinegar and salt
Preparation:
Peel the almonds by putting them in boiling water. Put them in a deep receptacle with the salt and the garlic and crush. Add cold water to prevent the almonds becoming oily. Add the breadcrumbs and continue crushing. Put in the rest of the water. Add extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and salt.
Ingredients (4 people):
- 1 kg of Tomatoes
- 200 grs. bread
- 100 grs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 clove Garlic
- 10 grs. Salt
Preparation:
Clean the tomatoes and stir with the blender, strain to remove seeds and skin, adding to beat back the bread, olive oil, garlic and salt. Decorate with chopped boiled egg and chopped serrano ham.
- NAKELDA
Ingredients:
- crumbled stale white bread
- ham or bacon (“pancetta”) (or both) cut in small pieces
- freshly grated sheep’s milk cheese
- eggs (one egg per 1 kg of bread)
- raisins
- olive oil
- fresh (or dried) summer-savoury
- salt
- pepper
- chicken broth
Preparation:
In a large bowl, mix crumbled stale bread, grated sheep’s milk cheese, small pieces of ham or bacon (“pancetta”), eggs and raisins. Add chopped summer-savoury, sauté in olive oil. Add a few tablespoons of chicken soup, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Shape into 7 cm-long dumplings and boil into the salted water or chicken broth until they return to the surface. Offer hot as a composite dish.
“PRŠUT” (ISTRIAN HAM) IN RED-WINE SAUCE, WITH GRILLED “POLENTA” (CORN-MEAL MUSH)
Ingredients (4 people):
- 400 g thick slices of dried ham
- 2 dl of red wine – “refosco”
- 20 preserved black olives
- 6 tablespoons of olive oil
For “polenta”:
- 500 g of corn meal
- 2 L of water
- a pinch of salt
- a tablespoon of olive oil
Preparation:
In a large frying pan heat two tablespoons of olive oil, add sliced ham and preserved olives. Sauté the ham on both sides. At the end, add red wine and the remaining olive oil.
Put the copper kettle filled with water over high heat and bring to the boil. When the water is boiling, stir into it a handful of flour and only afterwards add the remaining flour stirring all the time by means of a wooden stick. Keep the heat high so that the surface begins to bubble. Stirring constantly, add a tablespoon of olive oil and cook for about 45 minutes. The “polenta” is cooked when it comes off the wooden stick. Pour it onto the platter and cut it to slices with a thread. Allow the slices to cool and grill them on a grill pan. Serve with hot ham in red-wine sauce
- “BOBIČI” (A TYPICAL ISTRIAN MAIZE SOUP)
The period when maize starts to ripen (July, August), is also the period of “bobići”, a typical Istrian soup. There exist different ways of preparing this soup, the maize grains remaining its basic ingredient, in any case. Nowadays they are available also tinned or frozen, so that the soup can be prepared throughout the whole year.
Ingredients:
- Five corn-cobs
- 400 g of fresh beans
- 4 medium potatoes
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 4 stems of parsley
- 4 tablespoons of tomato juice or 2 fresh tomatoes peeled
- Salt
- Pepper
- olive oil
Preparation:
Put olive oil, chopped garlic and parsley in a large saucepan, sauté for a few minutes and add some water and fresh beans. Stir in more water and potatoes, peeled and diced. Cook for some minutes, then add maize grains, tomato juice, salt and pepper. Before the maize is done, remove the potatoes, crush them to a paste with a fork and put them back into the saucepan. Cook for 2 to 3 hours.
If we opted for “Bobići” with a ham bone or smoked pork meat, these should be added at the beginning of the cooking.
- BRAISED RICE WITH ASPARAGUS
Ingredients:
- asparagus
- olive oil
- rice (1 cup per person)
- onions
- salt
- pepper
Preparation:
Put the olive oil with chopped onions and asparagus, washed and cut to pieces in a saucepan and sauté. Add rice and water or stock (the proportion being 1 to 2) and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat and stir gently. In case you cook the asparagus before, use the cooking water instead of fresh water or stock. When the rice is done, remove from heat and add some freshly grated Parmesan and serve.
For the preparation of soup or salad cultivated asparagus is preferable.
- “HROŠTULE” (FRIED PASTRY-CAKE)
Ingredients:
- 250 g of white flour
- 40 g of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of rum or rough brandy
- Salt
- 1 egg and 1 egg yolk
- Milk
- grated lemon rind
- oil for frying
- icing sugar for dusting
Preparation:
Sift the four on a board and form a heap. Mix olive oil, sugar, salt and a few tablespoons of milk and stir in the flour. Add egg, egg yolk, rum or rough brandy and grated lemon rind and knead vigorously until it is smooth, about 30 minutes. Roll out the dough to 5 mm thickness and cut into 1-2 cm large ribbons. Form a sort of loose knots and fry in a large quantity of oil until they become golden.
Durst with icing sugar and serve.
- SARDINES IN “ŠAVOR” (marinated sardines)
Ingredients:
- 3/4 kg cleaned sardines
- Flour
- olive oil
- 1 large onion
- Garlic
- 2 dcl wine vinegar
- 1/8 liter of white wine (Malvazija)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Laurel
- rosemary
Preparation:
Flour the sardines and fry in heated olive oil. Make layers in a deep plate or kitchenware (earthenware, not metal at all). Heat the rest of the olive oil and sauté the chopped onion, garlic and parsley. Add the laurel, rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir well and add the wine vinegar and wine. When it comes to a boil, leave it to cook for a while. Pour over the sardines till covered. Place into the fridge for a few days. Serve with bread or polenta.
Olive bread
Ingredients
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 9 g dry yeast
- 80 g olive oil
- 220 g water
- 100 g sliced olives
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Preparation
Start by adding in a bowl 500g all-purpose flour, 9g dry yeast, 1 tsp sugar, 220g water, 80g olive oil and mix lightly.
Once it starts to come together add 1 tsp salt, 100g sliced olives and mix well until it becomes a pliable dough.
Cover and leave the dough to rise for 1 hour.
After 1 hour and if it has risen, cut the dough into 130 g pieces and roll each piece. Once rolled out, shape them as you wish.
Place on a baking tray with a piece of parchment paper and let them rise for another 30-40 minutes.
After 40 minutes, bake in a preheated oven in the air for 20-30 minutes at 180 °c.
Stuffed vegetables (Gemista)
Ingredients (4 people)
- 6 tomatoes
- 3 bell peppers (you can also use eggplant and zucchini as vegetables)
- salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste)
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 cups white rice
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 chopped onions
- 1 bunch parsley
- 3-4 tablespoons finely chopped mint
- 1 cup of water
- 1/2 cup tomato juice
Preperation
Preheat the oven to 180 °c. Empty the vegetables: Cut the “lid” off each tomato and set aside. Using a spoon, remove the flesh from the inside of each tomato. On the fine side of a grater, grate the tomato flesh and set aside. Cut a slice-lid from each pepper and set it aside, and use the spoon to remove the seeds and the white part inside. Leave some flesh inside the pepper to prevent it from opening with the filling. Sprinkle each tomato with a little salt and a little sugar. Turn them upside down on a tray for a few minutes to let them release their juices.
In a frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil and sauté the rice with the garlic and onion for about 3 minutes. Add the grated tomatoes, mint, parsley, salt and pepper, sugar and water. Cook until they have absorbed the liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and with a spoon, fill the vegetables 2/3 full and close them with their lids.
If you like, you can bake potatoes in between the vegetables inside the tray. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil and tomato juice; bake for about 1 hour, covering the pan with foil. Then uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.