7 Spanish dishes to cook during the week

Feeling hungry and tired of cooking the same dishes all over again? Babylon brings you 7 meals for 7 days, a culinary journey from home. Today, we will get into the delicious Spanish cuisine: 7 Spanish dishes for the week.

This gastronomy is characterised by being one of the healthiest diets of the world and the best of Europe. The cause, its use of mixing vegetables and legumes plus some meat and fresh fish. What’s more, Spanish food is known for its low content in trans fat, sugary drinks and processed meat.

Play some flamenco and get involved in this culture…here we go!

Monday: Tortilla de patatas

There are two types of people: the ones that like the omelette with onion and the ones without. Personally, I think the first group always wins. Onions are natural antioxidants and make everything tastier. Anyway, let’s get started!

Ingredients:

• Potatoes
• Eggs
• An onion
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

First of all, you need to cover the bottom of a pan with olive oil. Once it is warm enough, you add potatoes cut into squares and chopped onion (if you fancy). Sprinkle salt and pepper to your taste.

Then, we cover the pan and wait for 5 minutes and stir it. We want to repeat this process at least two more times until the potatoes look tender. When they are cooked enough, we remove them from the pan and let them drain the oil.

In a bowl, we beat the eggs, season them and mix everything in the pan (potatoes, onion, potatoes).

We stir the food and leave it at medium-high heat for at least 3-4 minutes.Then, we flip the omelette and wait for the same amount of time. Once it looks ready, let it set for two minutes.

And…voilá! Try it right now or wait for the next day, it will be yummy anytime.

Tuesday: Salmorejo

This is a very traditional cold soup from Andalusia (South Spain) and it is good for having it as a side or as a full meal. It is very rich in vitamins and even better in summertime.

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes
• Dense crumb bread
• Olive oil
• Vinegar
• A garlic clove
• Salt
• Teaspoon of sugar

To put on top:

• Eggs
• Serrano ham

This is probably the easiest one of them all. You just crush the tomatoes with the rest of the ingredients and If it looks too thick, you better add some water to the mix. Later, you should marinate it in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. Then, serve cold with chopped egg and some serrano ham. And yep, now you’re ready to try your super salmorejo!

Wednesday: Paella

It’s not a real Spanish week if you don’t try to cook a proper paella. This traditional dish may contain a lot of ingredients but it’s worth it. This explosion of flavors will make you love food a bit more and it’s suitable for vegans if you swap the seafood for vegetables (artichokes and beans, for example).

Ingredients:

• King prawns
• Mussels
• Squid
• Clams
• A few garlic cloves
• An onion
• Green peppers
• A tomato
• Bomba rice
• Olive oil
• Parsley
• Saffron
• Fish soup

Pick your onion and garlic, cut and stir-fry them for about five minutes. Then, add the green pepper cut into small cubes and let it simmer for twenty minutes. Grate the tomato and diced squid and mix everything in the pan. Let it cook until there’s not much broth in there.

In a bowl, mix the saffron, garlic and parsley.

Get back to the pan, add the king prawns and stir fry them for a few minutes, then take them out of the pan and set them aside.

Cook the rice in the paella pan and add boiled fish soup (which is three times the size of the rice). After this, let it cook for ten minutes and add the mixed saffron, garlic and parsley, mussels, clams and king prawns. Now it’s time to let it rest for about 8 more minutes. There you have it!

Thursday: Croquetas de jamón

Who doesn’t like croquettes? There are plenty of types of them: spinach ones, with cheese, puchero… Today, you will be able to cook one of the best ones ever, the ham ones!

Ingredients:

• 1 liter of whole milk
• Flour
• Butter
• Nutmeg
• Serrano ham
• Salt
• Pepper
• Eggs
• Bread crumbs
• Olive oil

Every good ham croquette has a good bechamel. Add 100g of butter to your pan and sifted flour. Little by little, incorporate warm milk until we get the desired texture. Add some salt, pepper, nutmeg and ham cut into small pieces. Let it cook for twelve minutes and your dough will be ready.

Let it cool down, take some of it and make the shape of a croquette. Pass it through beaten eggs and breadcrumbs.

Fry the croquettes in plenty of hot oil on both sides and remove them while draining the oil. Your Thursday meal is prepared!

Friday: Espinacas con garbanzos

The simpler, the better. This dish only needs 15 minutes to be cooked and it’s full of vitamins, proteins and fiber. Also, it’s delectable!

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• Garlic cloves
• Sweet paprika
• Spinach
• ¼ water glass
• Cooked chickpeas
• Salt (optional)

In a frying pan, add a splash of oil and when it is hot enough, add the chopped garlic. Cook over medium heat until golden brown. Add the sweet paprika, stir it and add the spinach with some water to cook it for five minutes. You can always use salt if you fancy and some more sweet paprika. Add the chickpeas, stir and cook for five more minutes and enjoy!

Saturday: Gambas al ajillo

As you may have noticed, Spanish people love using olive oil and garlic a lot. Personally, this dish is one of my favourite ever and suits perfectly for a side dinner. Only a few ingredients as well…here we go!

Ingredients:

• Peeled prawns
• Garlic cloves
• 1 chili pepper
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil
• Fresh parsley
• Half a cup of white wine

Cut the garlic into thin slices and the chili into rings. Coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil and once it gets warm enough, add the garlic until golden brown, then the chili and prawns. Season with pepper and salt. Add the parsley, white wine and some water. Cooking it for a few more minutes will be enough (do not leave the prawns for too long, we don’t want them to dry out). Yummmmmy!

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Sunday: Migas

This dish is originally from shepherds and it combines bread and meat. It’s a practical meal because the bread of the previous day is used (Spanish people eat bread every single day in every single meal).

Ingredients:

• Chorizo
• Bacon
• Bread from the day before
• Garlic cloves
• Sweet paprika

The first thing you will do is cut the bread into slices, medium pieces. Next, soak the bread with water and a little salt, do not soak it too much, just make it moist. Cover it with a cloth and allow the humidity to be transmitted to all the pieces of the bread.

In a frying pan with oil, we fry the whole garlic so that the oil takes on flavor.

Remove the garlic and fry the chorizo and bacon cut into pieces in the same oil. Once they’re cooked, we add the ‘migas’ (bread) and garlic and cook a low heat for about 30 minutes. Delicious!

Which Spanish dish did you like the most? Any other ones that you can recommend to us?

Share your prepared meals on our social media and have a lovely day!