Tapas at home; Patatas bravas y aioli

Want to prepare a cracking feast of tapas at home for the lads? You have to make sure you have these on the menu.

Don't let anyone tell you that tapas are not a real meal. The sheer wealth of options that are presented to you either in Spain or in a tapas restaurant mean that you have zero excuse to not only find many, many delicious things to eat, you should also be stuffed to the gills afterwards too. And while you may be more than willing to try tapas when on a weekend city break in Spain, you may be more reluctant to try to recreate that Spanish vibe at home. We're here to tell you there is nothing to be afraid of, and it is easy to prepare a feast fit for a night when the lads pop over to watch the football. The best thing about tapas is that they usually take just minutes to prepare, but one dish that is definitely worth the little bit of extra effort is the classic patatas bravas y allioli. For this you will need to get to work about an hour before you want to serve it up but once the spuds are in the oven you will have lots of time to get the sauces ready, and make a few of the other dishes for the night. First, get some good waxy potatoes. Peel and chop them into bite-sized cubes and lash however many you need to feed your guests into a pan of simmering water and boil for 15 minutes. Drain them, drizzle with oil, chuck on some salt and pepper (and maybe some rosemary as above) and roast them for about 50 minutes at 200 degrees. Some Spanish recipes say to fry them but roasting them makes them a bit better in our book. While they are in the oven, get cracking on the sauces. The bravas sauce needs the most work. Fry some garlic until golden then add thyme, cumin, paprika and sugar, stirring together quickly. Then a dash of red wine vinegar and a tin of tomatoes need to go in. That then just needs to simmer down for about 20-30 minutes. Add extra chilli or paprika if you like it extra spicy. The aioli is even easier. Just grab some mayo from the fridge (you could make your won but this is a lengthy process) and blend it with a very well crushed clove of garlic. When the spuds are golden brown, remove from the oven, place in a large dish and pour the bravas sauce on top (or in a bowl as above). Serve the aioli on the side and you have the perfect accompaniment to all your favourite tapas dishes. And, just like our previous recipes for Pimientos de Padrón, Chorizo in red wine, Gambas Pil Pil or Pepito Solomillo it is so easy that you'll wonder why you having been knocking this up for years. And don't forget, when you have a bash at this at home we want you to take a picture of the finished product and post it to Instagram. Just use the hashtags #campoviejo and #tapasenvy and check those out to see how everyone else is getting on with making tapas at home. For further information check out the Campo Viejo Facebook page where your tapas pictures can win you some sweet prizes.