Thursday, September 17, 2009

An easy Spanish-themed meal

The tomatoes are still going around here. I harvested enough to make a big batch of tomato soup dressed up with smoked paprika and toasts topped with crispy serrano ham and manchego.


Don't worry, I'm not going to post another recipe for tomato soup. I've already posted one using fresh tomatoes and one using canned tomatoes. You'll also be able to find a gazillion other versions on the Interwebs. But I will say the thing that makes this soup special is the smoked paprika. The Spanish swear by it and I would have to agree that it's pretty awesome. Regular old paprika just can't compare to its smoky flavor. So next time you make tomato soup, try using the smoked paprika to spice it up.

Serrano ham is like the Spanish equivalent of prosciutto. I like it best thinly sliced atop a piece of crusty bread, but if you're going to cook it, it needs to get crispy. Anything short of crisp and it can taste "gamey." I crisped the ham by putting the slices on a rack in a warm oven (250F) for about 10 minutes then adding the shredded manchego on top for about 5 minutes. That all gets layered above a toasted piece of crusty bread. Serve with marinated olives and a tossed salad with a nice vinaigrette and you've got an easy Spanish-themed meal.

I'm submitting this post to Regional Recipes. We're visiting Spain and I've already got a bunch of delicious entries. It's going to be a good round-up. I'll accept submissions until the 20th of September. Send them to blazinghotwok(at)gmail(dot)com. Check back here on the 20th for the round-up as well as the next region.

1 comment:

Manggy said...

I agree, that small bag of pimenton I got was a great buy :) Will be a while before I get to try Serrano ham, though-- maybe when I'm a decade into this career, heh :)