Last week David, from Crescent Moon Farm, gave me some Pimientos de Padron at the farmer’s market. The peppers conjured fantasies of white sand beaches on the Mediterranean, sipping sparkling water (booze makes me feel ill), surrounded by tasty little bites.
David told me that in Spain, they like to play a little pepper roulette since about one in twenty is spicy. Chefs prefer them immature (about the size of a quarter), but they are good quite, a bit larger too. I prepared the little ones the traditional way, fried up in a small skillet with some olive oil until they pop and the skin blisters. They are a simple little dish, but pack a ton of flavor.
I roasted the larger Padrones directly on the burners and threw on a sweet red lipstick pimiento as well. We had some frozen puff pastry that I thought could be the basis for another little nosh. I wanted something a bit sweetened, but savory.
I tasted all the jams in the house, but nothing sang to me. Then I spied some juicy ripe peaches. I diced them and stuffed a couple small pieces with some soft ripened local cheese into each of the puff pastry squares. Then I baked the puff pastry squares at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. I paired these fun little dishes with crusty artisan bread, a Spanish style cow, goat and sheep’s milk cheese, and some salty olives.
The light tapas meal turned out better than I could have hoped, and would be great for a party.
6 thoughts on “Mediterranean Tapas Medley”
I have heard so much about tapas, Bri, I’d love to try them – this plate is all I needed to start wonderfully!
Oh, I’m so glad Patricia. The actual ingredients are so important, as long as they are good quality of course. But if you have an assortment of good cheeses, some crusty bread and peppers, you have yourself a tapas meal. Add olives or capers and something with puff pastry (which is so good, it’s a must), and you’ve got a meal that sings. I’ve been thinking that puff pastry stuffed with fresh figs and brie cheese would be fabulous. Since we know those two are such a good combo 🙂
Glad you stopped by!
Hi Bri, that looks like fun and Yummy! tapas have been on my mind lately, i’ve been reading a tapas cook book, and I’ve been thinking of having a Tapas potluck to celebrate the wonderful food of this time of year. Kathy was just telling me she went to a Tapas restaurant in Santa Cruz that was really good.
Yum!
love,
megan
Thanks Megan! Tapas potluck sounds like great fun, especially around a fire. I think it’s fun to play with what countries the food comes from too. Not just Spain. Who doesn’t love finger foods?!
I LOVE pimientos de Padrón! I studied abroad in Spain and my host mother would buy them for me to try because we actually lived really close to Padrón. But Padrón is actually in the north of Spain, so it is close to beautiful beaches but the weather is much more similar to that of the Pacific Northwest. It never stopped raining!
Sherry – Me too! They are such a treat, I should have written a whole post just about them. I loved frying up a few to eat with our eggs in the morning. That’s great that you had a chance to study abroad. Once in a lifetime opportunity! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂