Want to prepare a cracking feast of tapas at home for the lads? Start with the Russian Roulette of food, Pimientos de Padrón.
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.
Food is not just to fill a gap, it is also meant to be fun and there are few dining options more fun for a group than Pimientos de Padrón.
These delicious little grilled green peppers are one of the staples in many Spanish tapas restauarants and they are worth preparing at home for the sheer craic of eating them.
You see, the Padron pepper is usually a very mild fella, with very little heat, so each one is a tasty mouthful of juicy, salty goodness. However, in every bowl, there will be one or two bad boys that will be backing serious heat, and that is why Pimientos de Padrón are known as the Russian Roulette of the tapas world as every one you try could be lethal (not really, but you know what we mean).
They couldn’t be easier to make. Just get a big bag of them – we know Fallon and Byrne in Dublin have them but they should be widely available – cook in a little oil at very high heat in a pan for about a minute and then toss the peppers in some sea salt before serving. That’s it.
They are a great snack for sharing and they go particularly well with a nice glass of Rioja. Just don’t blame us if you get a hot one
This article was brought to you by Campo Viejo , for further information check out their Facebook page here and make sure you take plenty of Instagram snaps of your Tapas too. Snapas anyone? And include the hashtags #campoviejo and #tapasenvy while you’re at it.
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