BEST SEAFOOD ON THE COSTA

 I rarely post about restaurant meals. That´s because I don´t eat out very often. Over the years, my eating-out gang has pretty much dispersed. Besides, I don´t like paying for just ordinary food that I could probably prepare at home for half the cost. Although I enjoy dining out at Indian, Japanese, Middle Eastern or other restaurants—and, believe me, there are plenty of restaurants in my area—I stick to mostly Spanish food for the blog posts.

This week, my friend Lars Kronmark, a chef-instructor at the Culinary Institute of America, Greystone (St. Helena, California) was visiting. Although he´s been to the Costa del Sol many times before, he had never eaten at the restaurant with the best seafood on the Málaga coast, Los Marinos José in Carvajal-Fuengirola. Chef Lars recently did a workshop on seafood, so he was keen to sample Málaga techniques.

Display of fresh seafood. In the front are turbot.

What´s amazing about Los Marinos is that the kitchen doesn´t use any radical techniques or avant-garde creations. Málaga is justly famous for its fried fish, seafood grilled on a plancha and fish baked in salt. What distinguishes Los Marinos José is the absolute obsessive dedication to product—the best and freshest fish and shellfish sourced directly from fishing vessels. The menu changes daily. The variety is astonishing. On the day we lunched at Los Marinos, there were ten different big fish listed on the menu.

Los Marinos José began as a chiringuito, a beach shack, serving local fish and shellfish. (There is nearby a Los Marinos Paco, run by another branch of the family.) A number of years ago it moved across the street to a brick and mortar restaurant with a terrace facing the sea. While you would never turn up for lunch in a bathing suit, as you can on the beach, still it´s relaxed and casual dining.

Cigalas are sea crayfish also known as scampi, Dublin Bay prawn or Norway lobster.

These are a delicacy--huevas de calamar, the roe from squid. 

Does this borriquete (a kind of bream) have our name on it?

Even the tomatoes are of highest quality. These are served chopped with tuna belly for the only salad on the day's menu. Fried artichokes was the only "vegetable" offered. The day we lunched at Los Marinos, there was no meat on the menu.

Carabineros are Jumbo shrimp.

Los Marinos was where, years ago, I first tried carabineros, enormous bright red, shrimp. Grilled in their shells over coals, they were messy to peel and extract, but exquisite in flavor. Carabineros are still on the menu at Los Marinos—priced at €14 per 100 grams (almost $16 for 3 ½ ounces). Three of them at lunch would have cost us more than €60. Los Marinos is expensive, but worth it. 

There were three of us at table. We began with five shared starters and a main dish of a whole borriquete, a kind of sea bream. 

Concha fina clam, served raw.

A Málaga specialty—conchas finas also called “bolos” (venus-shell clam). They are served raw on the half-shell with only lemon to accompany. Sweet and chewy, filled with essence of sea. 

Croquettes with a filling of shrimp and octopus. Piping hot, these were crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside.

Morsels of squid roe, lightly floured and fried. Like a puff of sea-flavored cloud.

Gambas de cristal or "glass" shrimp.

Two dishes served at the same time, small white “glass” shrimp (gambas de cristal) and small squid grilled on a plancha. The glass shrimp (Pasiphaea sivado, a deep-sea species, not the same as the freshwater glass shrimp sometimes used in acquariums) were dusted with flour and crisply fried. The whole shrimp is edible—head and shells give a slight crunch. Very sweet. 

Barely coated in flour, the glass shrimp can be eaten with shells and heads.

Perfectly-grilled squid were tender but al dente, with a slight resistance.

Fish in parts-- filleted chunks are heaped on the fried skeleton with the whole head on the side. (Photo by Ben Searl.)

The platter of bream included the fish spine, fried shatteringly crisp; the head with nuggets of flesh in the neck and cheeks, and chunks of fillets, lightly floured and fried. A mayonnaise with smoked pimentón was the accompanying sauce. Borriquete (my favorite fish guide, The Tio Pepe Guide to the Seafood of Spain & Portugal, by Alan Davidson, gives the English name as “rubber-lip grunt”) is not one of the more esteemed bream, such as dorada (gilt-head). But, treated with expertise in the kitchen, it is terrific. 

“Mayonnaise” at Los Marinos is confected by pressing head and gills of a grilled fish to extract all the juices, then whisking them with extra virgin olive oil. The natural gelatins in the fish emusify the oil. That´s it. No salt or lemon juice is added.

And, there in front of us, on a glorious day in February, was the beach and the blue Mediterranean. What a treat. 

Los Marinos José is in Fuengirola (Málaga). See the web site for contact information. http://www.losmarinosjose.com/

More seaside meals:

Fish Baked in Salt.

Borriquete and Clams, Fishermen´s Style.

Lunch at a Chiringuito.

Seaside Lunch.

Los Marinos.

 

ZERO FOOD WASTE + A GREAT SOUP

A display of cut-price veggies at my favorite supermercado caught my eye. Produce marked way down was tagged “Desperdicio Alimentario Zero”—“zero food waste.” I bought a pack of eight medium-sized tomatoes (about 2 pounds) for 99 centimos. The tomatoes were of three different varieties. All were perfectly ripe. None were rotting. All had imperfections of one sort or another, mainly blemishes on the skins. 

Many food retailers have joined the campaign to reduce food waste. The AECOC (Asociación de Empresas de Gran Consumo), which has more than 650 affiliates, has launched a campaign to increase awareness of the need to reduce waste at every step of the food supply chain, from the primary sources (farms and livestock), to manufacturing and packing, transport and storage, distribution and, finally, to us, the consumers. 

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization calculates that a third of food produced world-wide is wasted—crops that rot in the fields, produce rejected for imperfections, glitches in the supply chain, and, yes, the broccoli your kid refuses to eat, the leftovers from restaurant meals, the milk you overstocked that reached expiry date. Most food that winds up in the garbage can is perfectly edible.

Wasting food has both environmental and economic consequences. It contributes to global warming because rotting food in landfills creates methane. Wasted food globally represents an estimated $1 trillion of value annually.   

I´m doing my small part, starting with soup. 

This white bean and vegetable soup (from Simple Real Food by Amanda Cushman) is finished with a dollop of pesto sauce. I used "zero waste" blemished tomatoes instead of canned tomatoes in the soup. 

I make soup at least once a week. This week´s soup comes from Simple Real Food by Amanda Cushman, an American chef, caterer and cooking school teacher who has recently moved to València, Spain. The book’s recipes, including a vegetarian chapter, range from Asian to Mediterranean, a mix that is just my sort of cooking. 

The recipe, White Bean and Vegetable Soup with Pesto, has a couple of surprise techniques. One, part of the beans (canned) are pureed to make a thick soup, and, two, a whole cup of white wine lifts the flavors of vegetables to another level.

My own touch was to substitute those “zero waste” tomatoes for the canned ones that Amanda calls for in the recipe. I used up some green beans that had been lurking in the fridge too long. Because I had no fresh basil, I made a pesto substituting kale for the basil and walnuts for the pine nuts.

White Bean and Vegetable Soup with Pesto

Sopa de Alubias y Verduras con Salsa Pesto

(Recipe excerpted from Simple Real Food by Amanda Cushman)

(To use fresh tomatoes in place of canned for sauce or soup: Cut out the stem ends of the tomatoes and cut an X in the skin. Place them in a circle on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on “high” for 2 minutes. Rotate the tomatoes and return them to the MW. Microwave on high for 2 minutes longer. Allow them to set in the closed MW until cool enough to handle. Pull off the skins. Chop or puree the tomatoes, as needed in the recipe, in a blender or food processor.)

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 carrots, diced

1 cup dry white wine

Salt, pepper to taste

1 (28-oz.) can tomatoes with juices, chopped

½ pound green beans, trimmed, cut into ½ -inch diagonal slices

1 medium zucchini, diced

Pesto Sauce

2 cups loosely packed basil, washed, dried

3 cloves garlic, peeled

3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

½ cup Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup olive oil

Salt, pepper

Reserve ½ cup of the beans for later. Puree the rest of the beans in a processor with 1 cup of the broth.

Transfer the bean puree to a stockpot and stir in 2 cups of the broth. Heat the soup base over medium-high heat until simmering, season with salt and pepper. Cover and continue to simmer over low heat.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large  high-sided saucepan over medium heat and sauté the onion, garlic and carrots until slightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add the wine and deglaze the pan over high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the bottom of the pan. Add salt and pepper, the remaining cup of broth, tomatoes, green beans and zucchini and cover, simmer another 10 minutes. Add to the stockpot with the bean puree. Bring to a simmer and cook until all the vegetables are softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the reserved whole beans and salt and pepper to taste.

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For the pesto, combine the basil, garlic, pine nuts and cheese in a blender or processor and process until smooth. Add the oil gradually while the machine is running, season with salt and pepper to taste. If the pesto is too thick, add a little water. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Heat the soup before serving and garnish with a dollop of the pesto. 

Alternatives: Chick peas, navy beans or white beans can be used in place of the cannellini beans.

This version of pesto is made with kale instead of basil, walnuts instead of pine nuts.

Amanda Cushman, who is now based in València, Spain, gives private cooking classes locally and by Zoom. For more information, see her web site A culinary journal and online cooking classes from Chef Amanda Cushman . To order a copy of Simple Real Food, e-mail her at amandascooking@gmail.com

More recipes with energy-saving ideas: 

Eating at Kilómetro Cero

Eat Sardines, Save the Planet

What to Cook When the Electric Bill Soars

More Soup Recipes: Ready for Soup

At the village market, ripe bananas priced 50% off, displayed with a photograph of the village patron saint, Virgen de la Peña. 

SUNSET IN A GLASS (AND STUFFED SQUID)

 

“Picture yourself on Bajo de Guía beach at the western edge of Sanlúcar de Barrameda right at sunset”. You’ve got a half-bottle of chilled Manzanilla and a plate of grilled langostinos, fresh tiger shrimp. As the sun slowly sinks, it reflects and refracts through your Sherry glass. 

The sea breeze, the color-streaked sky, the taste of those shrimp and the cool wine.  That´s the evocative opening of Sunset in a Glass, a book by Gerry Dawes, self-described “food and wine road warrior in Spain.” (Sunset in a Glass, enhanced photography edition, is available here.)

Sunset in a Glass is not quite a memoir, definitely not a guidebook. It´s a collection of very personal stories about life, food, wine and people in Spain. Gerry easily switches from evocative (that sunset on the beach, ravishing landscapes) to provocative (would he pay $180 for a bottle of Vega Sicilia wine?), but always with good humor.

I first knew Gerry Dawes early in his adventures in Spain when he and his then-wife, Diana, lived in Mijas, the village in southern Spain where I still live. Our paths have crossed a number of times in the subsequent years—stomping around olive groves on press tours in Spain sponsored by the International Olive Oil Council (on one of those jaunts, in Gerry´s company, I first tasted the famed Vega Sicilia wine at a restaurant in Córdoba); tagging along as he made the rounds at Madrid Fusión, the grand annual food fest (Gerry knows absolutely everybody in Spain’s food world); fellow moderators at symposiums about Spanish food at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, CA., and the San Antonio, TX., Culinaria Week;  

 

Although he tells how he first came to Spain (1968, stationed at Rota Naval Base) and his early forays into Sevilla and its barrios and flamenco, Gerry follows no real chronology in the book, but backs and forths between regions and characters at will. As Chef José Andrés writes in the book's foreword, “I am amazed at his reach.” Gerry promises more to come, with three more volumes of Sunset in a Glass to follow.

Quim Márquez (Photo by Gerry Dawes)

My favorite tales are the ones about amazing cooks and memorable meals. A visit to Barcelona´s vibrant La Boquería market includes a “second breakfast” at the stall of Quím (Márquez) de la Boquería—steaming cockles, grilled asparagus, fried artichoke hearts, sizzling shrimp, small white beans with butifarra sausage and alioli, foie gras with crispy leeks—all prepared in a miniscule kitchen at the market stall. A meal washed down with Cava rosat—pink sparkling wine.

In Castile, Gerry meets up with an old friend, Ambrosio Molinos, a cheesemaker and a  trencherman like himself, for an extraordinary meal at De Galo in Covarrubias, (Burgos)   The meal begins with a cold dish, sea bream escabeche, served with coarse Castilian bread for mopping up the sauce. This is followed by a local specialty, red Ibeas beans, cooked with chorizo, served with grilled morcilla and guindillas (piquant peppers), “a must with bean dishes.” The main course is baby lamb chops (with their kidneys) grilled over vine cuttings, roasted potatoes, and pimientos de piquillo, the slightly spicy little red peppers that are one of the great delicacies of Spain. 

Gerry relates a different sort of meal that´s as much a delight for the setting and the group of friends, all taking a break from the frenzy of the San Fermines festival in Pamplona, as for the simple, rustic food. Following in the footsteps of James Michener, as related in Iberia, each year “we, too, made the pilgrimage to this historic little valley in the pass that is haunted by the ghost of brave Roland and by the spirits of generations of pilgrims who passed this way…on… the Camino de Santiago.”

It´s a hard-to-find spot on a steep road that climbs up to a pilgrim’s sanctuary at the top of the pass. “We unloaded the luncheon bounty from our cars. The men helped Alicia down the steep grassy slope to the green mossy banks of the stream… Diana, who had recruited some of the women to collect the food at the Pamplona Mercado Municipal that morning, laid out our splendid repast: salty anchovies cured in oil; roasted red pimientos; streaky pink slices of jamón; garlicky red-orange chorizo; white Parmesan-like Roncal from the Pyrenees east of Roncesvalles and smoky Idiazábal ewes’ milk cheeses from a town south of San Sebastián; olives cured with rosemary, thyme and garlic; crusty, country bread; and fruits—blushing ripe peaches, big black picota cherries,and honeydew melons. I put a dozen bottles of Las Campanas Navarra Rosado (the same rosé wine Hemingway carried in his car around Spain following the bullfights) and the melons in the cold rushing little rivulet to cool, then dispatched a detail of volunteers for dry firewood to build a small fire.”

Chef Ferran Adrià (left) with Gerry Dawes. (Photo by Soler)

From the rustic to the sublime—Gerry recounts several meals he sampled at elBullí, the restaurant of Ferran Adrià in Roses (Catalonia) which, for awhile, was billed as the best restaurant in the world (the restaurant has since closed its doors). According to him, his story about elBullí that appeared in Food Arts magazine in 1997 was the first and seminal article published in America about rising star Ferran Adrià and his elBulli restaurant. 

I can´t resist quoting from the book as Gerry relates what he ate at that first meal at elBulli (menus evolved over the years, with fewer of the “foams” that once seemed so far-out). The meal began with “snacks” in the kitchen. “Nothing too weird so far,” Gerry opined. Then, to the table.

“Served by very serious young wait people dressed in funereal black Nehruesque jackets and pants, began the parade of unbelievably inventive, undoubtedly weird, and sometimes downright delicious Adrià concoctions, complete with verbal instructions on how and when to eat it.” 

There were Parmesan-flavored ice cream sandwiches between Parmesan wafers; guacamole mousse with crunchy toasted corn; a “caramelized” quail’s egg yolk; and then the first espuma, a smoked meat-flavored wisp of foam. Next came a biscuit glacé (very salty ice cream with hazelnuts”); a tepid, exotic eggplant “soup with Fisherman” that included yogurt-filled raviolis, pine nuts and  little chips of minty, balsamic-flavored Fisherman's Friend throat lozenges. 

A cold dish followed, mejillones de roca con frambuesa (little rock mussels with a dot of raspberry puree on top, surrounded by a gelatin of mussel juices flavored with julienned ginger. Zamburiñas a la gallega were traditionally flavored tiny sea scallops in their shells with paprika, thin quick-fried scallion rings, and crunchy bits of sautéed garlic. 

“I headed into the home stretch, where Ferran Adrià really hit his stride. The espuma de bacalao con cebollitas was followed by a tortilla de alcachofas, a spoonful of two pieces of crunchy, deep-fried artichoke leaves in a creamy, egg yolk sauce; Paquetitos de sepia y coco al jengibre (ravioli-type packets made from sepia squid bodies and filled with a ginger-soy sauce (‘Don’t break the packets, put them in your mouth and let them explode,’ instructed my waiter.)"

 Next, chop suey de almejas, cold clams in a warm sauce with corn, diced zucchini, button mushrooms, and braised endive. The next to the last dish was merluza con calabaza y tomate al perifollo, grilled hake served with spaghetti squash and gelatinous, seed-studded tomato “hearts,” topped by a shard of caramelized pumpkin and chervil. The finale, lamb brains with sea cucumbers, mushrooms, and grilled meat-flavored oil. 

Javier Hidalgo, Sanlúcar (Photo Dawes)

But, back to that sunset on the beach at Sanlúcar. After the sun has gone down and the bottle or two of Manzanilla has been finished, it´s time to head to one of the famed beach restaurants, such as Casa Bigote, a taberna marinera, for local specialties such as delicias de pescado frito, mixed fried fish with small whole hake, cazón en adobo (marinated  dogfish shark); boquerones (fresh anchovies), acedias  (baby sole) and calamares (squid). There’s Bigote’s superb arroz marinero (seafood rice), cazuela marinera con huevo (monkfish and shrimp with an egg poached in a bubbling Manzanilla sauce. 

Gerry writes movingly about meals shared with his good friend, Javier Hidalgo, of Bodegas Hidalgo in Sanlúcar, where manzanilla comes from. One lunch, at a rustic place in the Marismas near Doñana, begins with tortillitas de camarones, fritters of tiny shrimp, and, of course copitas of manzanilla.

Although he´s included no recipes in the book (with the exception of José Andrés’s gin-tonic), Gerry relates ingredients and methods for a number of dishes as told to him by his culinary fellow-travellers. One, from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, for calamares rellenos con huevas de merluza (squid stuffed with hake roe), Gerry says is an example of great folk dishes of southern Spain—originally simple fishermen´s fare—that is “a delicacy worthy of the most exalted gourmet.”  I was inspired to re-create the dish in my kitchen. Without the beach and the sunset, but absolutely with a copa of manzanilla. 

(The photos above are from the book Sunset in a Glass by Gerry Dawes and are used with permission. The photos below are taken by me in my kitchen.)

Whole squid is stuffed with shrimp and fish roe. After poaching, the squid are sliced and served with a parsley vinaigrette and seasoned mayonnaise. 

Stuffed squid makes an elegant starter with copitas of manzanilla.

Accompany the squid with two sauces, a parsley-spring onion vinaigrette and a pimentón-spiked mayonnaise.

Squid Stuffed with Hake Roe, Sanlúcar Style

Calamares Rellenos con Huevas de Merluza a la Sanluqueña

Lobes of hake roe.

Early spring is the season for fresh hake roe (fish eggs, huevas). The “packets” or lobes of fresh roe can be poached, sliced and served with vinaigrette. In this recipe from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, as described in Sunset in a Glass, roe is used along with shrimp and, if available, huevos de choco, milt from cuttlefish, as a stuffing for squid. Sliced and served cold with a piquant parsley-onion sauce and seasoned mayonnaise, the squid makes quite an elegant starter. 

The delicate packets of roe are easier to handle if they are first blanched. Add them to simmering, salted water for 5 seconds, skim out and drain well. Then use scissors to cut away any dark-colored veins, but don´t remove the thin membrane that encloses the tiny eggs. Cut the lobes into three or four pieces. Handle them very gently, so as not to break up the delicate roe. 

If available, use real langostinos, tiger shrimp, from Sanlúcar. Otherwise, use any small shrimp. Eight ounces of shrimp with heads and shells will make about 4 ounces peeled. Use the heads and shells to make stock (6 cups water, salt, bay leaf and onion, cooked 40 minutes) in which to poach the stuffed squid. 

After poaching, chill the squid at least 2 hours or overnight to allow the stuffing to firm-up. Use a very sharp knife to slice them crosswise about ½ inch thick. 

Squid pouches, shrimp (top) and roe.

Serves 6 as a starter.

1-2 medium-large squid (about 1 ¾ pounds)

6 ounces fresh hake roe 

Salt

4 ounces peeled shrimp

¼ cup fresh bread crumbs

¼ cup fino manzanilla or Sherry

1 egg white, lightly beaten

½ of a hard-boiled egg, chopped

6 cups shrimp stock, fish broth or water

Shredded lettuce, to serve

Sliced cooked potatoes, to serve

Pimentón (paprika)

Sauces to accompany the squid (recipes follow)

Clean the squid by pulling the head and tentacles free from the body. Leave the body pouch whole. Pull off and discard the discolored outer membrane and remove the cartilage on the inside. Pull off the fins and separate the tentacles from the head. (Save the fins and tentacles for another use.) Discard the mouth and ink sac. Keep the squid bodies covered and refrigerated until ready to stuff them.

Cut roe into chunks.

Bring salted water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and blanch the whole lobes of roe for 5 seconds. Skim them out and drain well. Trim off dark veins. Cut the lobes into ¾-inch chunks. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Chop the shrimp into ½-inch pieces and reserve, refrigerated.

Place the bread crumbs in a mixing bowl. Add the manzanilla and egg white. Stir in the chopped cooked egg. Add the pieces of roe and the chopped shrimp. Season with ¾ teaspoon salt. Use a wooden paddle to very gently fold the roe and shrimp into the breadcrumb mixture. 

Fill squid with stuffing.

Place squid pouch upright in a cup. Spoon the stuffing mixture into the squid Use the handle of a wooden spoon to push the stuffing down. Don´t fill the pouch more than ¾ full. Close the top opening with a toothpick or small skewer. Use remaining stuffing mixture to fill the second squid in the same manner.

Place the shrimp stock in a pan just large enough to hold the squid in one layer. (If using water instead of stock, add salt and a bay leaf.) Bring the stock to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and place the stuffed squid in the pan. There should be enough liquid to just cover them. Place a heatproof plate on top to keep the squid submerged. 

After the squid have cooked 3 minutes, use a skewer to pierce the skin in two or three places in order to eliminate air pockets in the stuffing. Cook the squid 15 minutes. Very gently, turn them over. Replace plate on top. Cook until squid are very tender when tested with a skewer, about 15 minutes longer. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the squid to cool 30 minutes in the cooking liquid. 

Remove the squid from the pan (stock can be strained and saved for another use). Place the squid in a container and tuck a sheet of plastic wrap around them. Cover the container and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.

Slice the squid crosswise. Serve on a platter or on individual plates with shredded lettuce and sliced cooked potatoes. Sprinkle with pimentón. Accompany with sauces.

Parsley-Spring Onion Vinaigrette

Vinagreta de Perejil y Cebolleta

Use spring onions (also known as green onions, cebolletas) or scallions for this sauce.

1 cup chopped spring onions

½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

¼ cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar

Combine the onions, parsley, pepper and garlic in a small bowl. Add salt and dress with oil and vinegar. Mix gently. Serve in a sauce bowl alongside the squid or spoon some of it over the sliced squid.

Pimentón Mayonnaise

Mayonesa con Pimentón

This sauce is best if home-made with extra virgin olive oil. If using bottled mayo, beat a tablespoon of olive oil into it.

½ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon pimentón (paprika, not smoked)

Pinch of pimentón picante (hot paprika) or cayenne

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon capers

Combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, two kinds of pimentón, salt and capers. Serve in a sauce bowl alongside the sliced squid or spoon some of it over the squid.

A MONTH OF MEATLESS MONDAYS

Are you trying to cut down on meat eating? Join the meatless Monday brigade. Or, perhaps, you´re meatless on Fridays for Lent (begins March 2 with Ash Wednesday)? Here are some menu ideas, mostly Spanish, for meatless meals, all vegetarian, some vegan. There’s one new recipe, a rich vegetable terrine, plus links to other recipes that have appeared on the blog. 

Fish and shellfish are not “meat,” so, unless you are keeping vegetarian, you might search on the many recipes for seafood. Spain’s beloved potato tortilla and most of its variations are also vegetarian. 

Vegetable Terrine (Pastel de Verduras)

 

This terrine, chock-full of vegetables and rich with cheese, is perfect for special occasions. There's a piquillo pepper cream sauce to serve with it. For a vegetarian meal, add a tomato-noodle soup as a starter and a saffron rice pilaf with mushrooms as a side. Sliced and served cold, the terrine makes a terrific sandwich filling. Spread the piquillo cream sauce on the toasted bread. (Recipe for terrine and sauce are below.)

Fideo Noodles with Tofu and Vegetables (Cazuela de Fideos con Tofu y Verduras)

Sometimes called "pasta paella," this traditional noodle dish, usually made with seafood, has been reinvented as a vegan dish, with tofu and seaweed standing in for the seafood. It´s packed with flavor. Serve a big salad with the noodles. (The fideo recipe is here.)

Best-Ever Veggie Burger (Burguer Vegetariana)

 I have tried dozens of veggie burger recipes, and I think this is the best of all. The rice makes it all stick together, so it doesn’t need egg. The mushrooms contribute the necessary umami whammy. Olive oil keeps the burgers juicy. Smoked pimentón adds that char-grilled essence. Carrots give some texture. I use TVP (textured vegetable protein, a soy product) in this, but coarse, dry breadcrumbs can be substituted.

Serve the burgers on toasted buns with eggplant fries (dust eggplant strips with flour and fry until golden in olive oil) and coleslaw with olive oil dressing. Piquant herby green sauce stands in for mayonnaise. (Recipe: Best-Ever Burgers)

Zucchini Boats Stuffed with Quinoa (Canoas de Calabacín con Quinoa)

Chewy quinoa and smoky pimentón give this vegetarian main dish a meaty flavor. Serve avocado toasts as a starter and sliced tomato salad on the side. (Recipe: Zucchini Boats Stuffed with Quinoa and Vegetables.

Chard and Cheese Pie (Torta de Acelgas con Queso)

This chard and cheese pie has pine nuts and raisins in it. The flaky pastry is made with olive oil. Serve the pie hot or cold. It would be good with mushroom soup as a starter. (Recipe: Chard and Cheese Pie) 

Spinach with Chickpeas (Espinacas con Garbanzos)

Here´s a traditional Spanish tapa dish that's vegan. The basic ingredients are chickpeas and spinach, Olive oil, plenty of garlic, pimentón (paprika) and cumin flavor the combo of vegetable and legumes. (Recipe: Spinach and Chickpeas)

Vegetable Terrine

Pastel de Verduras

Change the taste of the terrine by using different cheeses. A semi-cured Manchego or smoky Idiazábal, a creamy gallego or a pungent Asturian blue. Any cheese that melts smoothly, such as Gruyere or Cheddar, will work. 

You will need about 6 cups of chopped vegetables for the terrine. I´ve used wide romano beans, carrots, onion, leek, red bell pepper and zucchini. Other possibilities are peas, mushrooms, florets of cauliflower or broccoli, asparagus cut in 1-inch pieces, quartered artichoke hearts. Some vegetables such as green beans, cauliflower and artichokes should be par-boiled before incorporating with the sautéed vegetables. Cool the vegetables and strain off accumulated liquid before adding them to the egg mixture. 

I used a food processor to grate the cheese and to mix the milk and eggs for the custard mixture.

You´ll need a 4-cup loaf pan or mold (in Spanish, a “plum-cake” pan) to bake the terrine. Lining the bottom with baking parchment guarantees easy unmolding. The terrine can be baked low and slow (350ºF for 60+ minutes) or hot and fast (400ºF for 45 minutes). It´s done when a skewer comes out clean.  Place the loaf pan in a larger pan of hot water. 

Let the terrine set 15 minutes before unmolding. Use a serrated knife to slice the terrine. Don´t use much pressure, but use a sawing motion to cut through the pieces of vegetables to prevent dislodging them.

Serves 6-8.

1 cup green beans cut in 1-inch pieces

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup chopped onion

1 leek, sliced

1 cup red pepper cut in 1-inch pieces

1 cup diced zucchini

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

6 ounces cheese, grated (about 2 cups grated)

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup evaporated milk

½ cup milk

1/8 teaspoon smoked pimentón picante (hot paprika)

Thyme leaves

Par-boil the beans in boiling water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain and refresh them in cold water. Reserve.

Sauté chopped vegetables in olive oil.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the carrots and onion and sauté on moderate heat 5 minutes. Don´t let them brown. Add the leek, red pepper and zucchini. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Continue sautéeing until the carrots are beginning to soften, 5 minutes. Add the par-boiled green beans. Turn up the heat and cook 2 minutes more to cook off most of the liquid the vegetables give off. Remove the vegetables to a bowl and allow them to cool.

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Oil a 4-cup loaf pan and line the bottom with a piece of baking parchment. Set the loaf pan in a larger pan.

In a mixing bowl (or food processor) combine the cheese, eggs, evaporated and regular milk. Season with pimentón, thyme and ¼ teaspoon salt. 

Drain the vegetables (save the liquid for another use). Stir the vegetables into the egg mixture.

Carefully ladle the vegetable-egg mixture into the loaf pan. Add hot water to the larger pan to a depth of 1 ½ inches. Place the pan in the oven. Bake until the egg-milk mixture is set and a skewer comes out clean, about 50 minutes.

Remove the pans from the oven. Remove the loaf pan from the pan of water. Allow the terrine to set for 15 minutes before unmolding it onto a serving plate.

Allow to set 15 minutes before unmolding.

Piquillo Cream Sauce

Crema de Pimientos Piquillos

1 (185-gram) can piquillo peppers

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon Sherry vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup cream

Empty the contents of the can of peppers into a blender. Add the garlic and vinegar. Blend to make a smooth puree. Pour the puree into a small saucepan and add the cream. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer 5 minutes until the sauce is slightly reduced. Serve the sauce hot or cold.