Pasta with a Spanish twist: Manchego cheese or Serrano ham

Pasta with a Spanish Twist

After a long day at work this is a very simple dish to make and a great way of adding a Spanish twist to your evening meal. I absolutely love both Manchego cheese and Serrano ham so will often add both to my bowl.

Serves: 1 vegetarian, 1 meat-eater

Orecchiette (little ears) pasta (Approx 100g per person)

2 handfuls spinach, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 red chili, de-seeded and chopped

Handful pine nuts

¼ juice of lemon

Sea salt and black pepper

Olive oil

V: Shavings of Manchego cheese

M: Slice or two of Serrano ham, torn into strips

Boil the pasta in lots of salted water until al dente (approx 1o minutes). Drain.

Meanwhile, dry pan fry the pine nuts for a few minutes, until golden brown and set aside.

In a separate frying pan, fry the garlic and chili in a glug of olive oil for one minute. Stir in the spinach until it starts to wilt, then season.

Add the drained pasta to the pan, squeeze over the lemon, fold in the pine nuts and mix the ingredients together. Include extra olive oil, sat and black pepper if necessary.

V: Serve with a sprinkle of Manchego cheese

M: Serve with torn Serrano ham

Spicy Spanish Eggs with Manchego Cheese or Chorizo

Spicy Spanish Eggs with Chorizo

My absolute favourite thing about the weekend is eating eggs for breakfast. By Thursday I’m really excited at the prospect of only 2 days to go and start planning my early morning meal.

I usually walk my little dog first to build up an appetite so by the time I eat, it’s more like brunch than breakfast, this also gives me an excuse to have an extra large portion.

Today spicy eggs are on the agenda and to follow my theme of Spanish cuisine I added paprika and cumin for a Moorish twist.

Serves: 1 Vegetarian, 1 meat-eater

1 Spanish onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped

1 can chopped plum tomatoes

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika

Few sprigs of fresh thyme

4 free range organic eggs

Sea salt and black pepper

Olive oil

V: Chunk of Manchego cheese, cubed

M: Chunk of chorizo sausage, sliced

In a large frying pan fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil until the onion starts to brown. Add the cayenne pepper, cumin and smoked paprika and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Pour over the tin of tomatoes and add half a tin of water. Give it a good stir, season, sprinkle over the thyme and leave on a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

M: In a small frying pan gently fry the chorizo until it starts to crisp up. Add half the tomato sauce and crack in 2 of the eggs. Fold the white into the sauce and leave to cook for a few minutes. Half cover with a lid to cook through the top of the egg too.

V: Add the other half of tomato sauce to another small frying pan, sprinkle over the cheese cubes and crack in the remaining 2 eggs. Fold the white into the sauce and leave to cook for a few minutes. Half cover with a lid to cook through the top of the egg too.

Don’t bother with plates and just eat from the pan, dipping fresh crusty bread into the gooey egg yolks.