4 EPIC Spanish Seafood TAPAS You HAVE TO MAKE
Tapas, the essence of Spanish cuisine, and what is better than one tapa? 4 tapas!!! All 4 of these tapas recipes are super easy to make, use simple ingredients and each one is done in 30 minutes or less. Folks, this is what Spain is all about. A bunch of tapas plates that offer an insane amount of flavor and very little effort to make.
You can enjoy any of these tapas as a starter before a meal, or make them all at once and savor an array of Spanish flavors all in one sitting. Either way you slice it, each one of these tapas is gonna be a show-stopper.
For those of you that don´t know, tapas are basically like little appetziers. Very popular throughout all of Spain. It´s a great way to try a bunch of different flavors in a small serving. These 4 tapas here are all super popular in Spain and are seriously above and beyond easy to make at home.
TIPS & TRICKS to make this recipe: I used frozen fish for each of these recipes, just to make things cheaper and easier. The secret when you´re using frozen fish is to make sure you completely thaw it out. Then you want to pat it completely dry with paper towels. This gives the fish a great texture and allows it to be full of flavor.
Key Ingredients & Cookware I used in this Recipe:
MORTAR & PESTLE
EXTRA VIRGIN SPANISH OLIVE OIL
SPANISH SEA SALT
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Watch the Video Below on How to Make 4 EPIC Spanish Seafood TAPAS
4 EPIC Spanish Seafood TAPAS
Ingredients
FOR THE SEPIA A LA PLANCHA
- 2 cleaned cuttlefish
- 2 cloves garlic roughly minced
- 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- pinch sea salt
FOR THE GARLIC SHRIMP WITH WINE & SAFFRON
- 4 cloves garlic
- 15 raw jumbo shrimp peeled & deveined
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/2 tsp saffron threads
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- pinch sea salt
- pinch black pepper
- handful freshly chopped parsley
FOR THE FRIED CALAMARI WITH SMOKED PAPRIKA
- 2 cleaned tubes of squid
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
- pinch sea salt
- pinch black pepper
- 1/3 cup sunflower oil
- 2 lemon wedges
- handful freshly chopped parsley
FOR THE FRIED COD WITH GARLIC AIOLI
- 2 cloves garlic roughly minced
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 14 oz cod fillet 390 grams
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- pinch sea salt
- pinch black pepper
- 1/4 cup virgin olive oil
- 2 lemon slices
- handful freshly chopped parsley
Instructions
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To make the Sepia a la Plancha, add 2 cloves of roughly minced garlic into a mortar, 1 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley and a pinch of sea salt, pound down on the mixture until you form a paste, pour in 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and mix together, set aside, next grab 2 cleaned cuttlefish (you can substitute for squid) and pat down with paper towels, remove the tentacles and pat the inside dry, cut into 1 inch x 1 inch squares, heat a fry pan with a medium-high heat and add in a generous tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, after 2 minutes add the cuttlefish in there and mix with the olive oil, after 2 minutes add the parsley & garlic mixture and continue to mix, after 15 to 30 seconds remove from the heat and transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with a little sea salt and garnish with a lemon wedge
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To make the Garlic Shrimp with Wine & Saffron, heat a 1/4 cup of white wine in a sauce pan, when it comes to a light boil transfer to a bowl, pinch in 1/2 tsp of saffron threads and set aside, thinly slice 4 cloves of garlic and pat down 15 raw jumbo shrimp (peeled & deveined) with paper towels, season with sea salt & black pepper, heat a fry pan with a medium heat and pour in 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, after 2 minutes add the slices of garlic and mix with the olive oil, 30 seconds later add the shrimps seasoned side down into the pan, 1 minute later flip the shrimps and add in the saffron infused wine, after a total of 2 minutes since adding the shrimp, mix it all together so all the flavors come together, transfer to a serving dish and garnish with freshly chopped parsley
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To make the Fried Calamari with Smoked Paprika, pat down 2 tubes of cleaned squid with paper towels, then cut each one into 1/2 inch thick rings, add 1/2 cup all-purpose flour into a clear plastic bag, along with 1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika, a generous pinch of sea salt and black pepper, add the squid rings in there and mix until all the squid rings are evenly coated, heat a small fry pan with a medium-high heat and pour in 1/3 cup sunfower oil, after 3 minutes start cooking the squid rings, cook them in batches to not over-crowd the pan, after 90 seconds flip the calamari and fry for another 90 seconds, then transfer to a dish with paper towels and continue to fry up the rest of the calamari, once they are all cooked transfer to a serving dish, garnish with a couple lemon wedges and sprinkle with freshy chopped parsley
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To make the Fried Cod with Garlic Aioli, add 2 cloves roughly minced garlic into a mortar, using a pestle pound down on the garlic until you form a paste, then add in 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and season with sea salt & black pepper, whisk together until well combined, cover with seran wrap and set aside, pat down a 14 oz fillet of cod, cut into 1 inch x 1 inch cubes, add the cut cod into a large bowl, add in 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and season with sea salt & black pepper, gently toss together until all the pieces of cod are evenly coated, heat a fry pan with a medium-high heat and pour in a 1/4 cup of virgin olive oil, after 3 minutes add the cod into the pan and fry for 4 minutes, or until all the pieces of cod are golden in color, transfer into a dish next to the garlic aioli, garnish with a couple lemon slices and freshly chopped parsley
Recipe Notes
If you buy your fish frozen, remember to pat each one completely dry with paper towels. In these recipes, black pepper = freshly cracked black pepper.
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