The humble and generous potato stars in some of the most popular tapas and world famous from our snacking recipe book. The salad, the bravas or the always controversial potato omelette are surely some of the ones that come to mind first, but we have many more options to take advantage of the potatoes at the time of the aperitif. And without opening a bag of chips, that’s for granted.
French fries -o crisps, for the British – they are a dangerous delicacy because of how quickly they are devoured and the high palatable pleasure they produce. We do not deny them, moderately, always trying to choose a brand of good quality artisan tradition or, better still, go to a fryer to have them freshly made; we can also make them homemade even in its lightest version. But the good potato deserves more recognition to assert its great versatility.
Cooked, stuffed, au gratin, fried, roasted, in the microwave, spicy, crunchy, tender … there are a thousand ways to prepare and cook them, and they admit endless toppings or sides. It is always a good idea to have some seasonal potatoes in the pantry to solve, for example, the weekend snack.
We wash the potatoes with their skin, cut them in half and make cross cuts with a knife without reaching the skin. We place them in a glass dish or microwave safe container with a little water in the bottom. Season with salt and pepper, add a drizzle of oil and cover. Cook in the microwave at 800W for five minutes.
We cook again another five minutes. We test the point by pricking them with a knife. If they are still hard, cook them at the same power for three-minute intervals, until the tip of the knife goes through them easily, but they remain whole.
In a bowl we beat the cream cheese with dill Chopped and add ground pepper, spread the cream cheese over the roasted potatoes with a teaspoon and add the smoked salmon. Grate the lemon and sprinkle it on top.
Complete recipe | Scandinavian potatoes
Baked potato roses
Ingredients for 2-4 people. 3 medium potatoes, 45 ml of extra virgin olive oil, 1 lemon, salt, ground black pepper, thyme, granulated garlic and sweet paprika.
Elaboration. Preheat the oven to 200ºC and grease a tray of mini muffins or small ramekin-style molds. Peel the potatoes and cut into very thin slices using a mandolin or a knife. Leave in a bowl with cold water as we take them out and let it rest for 10 minutes. Drain and dry well. Assemble towers with them and cut in half, to obtain half moons. Form potato strips by placing them in a row, overlapping the ends, using approximately 10 halves. Carefully roll up on themselves and bring to the mold, forming the roses. Repeat until finished. Paint with oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and add a little garlic and paprika. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. If they burn too quickly, cover with aluminum foil.
Complete recipe | How to make baked potato roses
American tater tots
Ingredients for 6 people. 4 potatoes, ground spices to taste, 1/2 heaping tablespoon of flour, 1 teaspoon of sugar, black pepper, salt, olive oil for frying.
Elaboration. We peel the potatoes and leave them in cold water for a few minutes. We cut them into quarters and cook them for 6 minutes so that they are somewhat cooked but do not fall apart. With a cheese grater or with a food processor, we grate the potatoes until they form a kind of flakes. Optionally, you can also grate half an onion. In a bowl we put the potatoes, spices or aromatic herbs and add the flour and sugar. We stir and mix. We are taking portions of potatoes and with our hand we form bite-sized balls and cylinders, approximately 1.5 cm long and with a diameter similar to that of a 20 cent euro coin. Fry in abundant very hot oil for 2 minutes, stirring at that time so that they do not stick to each other. If we are going to eat them at the moment, we let them fry for about ten minutes, until they are golden brown. We drain on absorbent paper.
Complete recipe | How tater tots, the favorite potato garnish in the US and UK, are made
Roasted potatoes with paprika with aioli
Ingredients for 2-4 people. 4 new potatoes, 2 teaspoons of paprika, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt, black pepper, 25 g of grated Parmesan cheese, 3 cloves of garlic, 2 eggs, 275 ml of sunflower oil, drops of lemon juice .
Elaboration. We preheat the oven to 220ºC with heat up and down without air. We wash, dry and cut the potatoes into wedges. Apart we mix the paprika with a little salt and pepper. We water with a jet of oil and impregnate the potatoes with this mixture. We transfer them to a suitable source for the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes. About 15 minutes before finishing the baking, sprinkle with the cheese and finish roasting them. We make the aioli by putting the eggs and the peeled garlic cloves in the blender glass, cover with the oil and add a little salt and a few drops of lemon juice. We put the arm of the turmix to the bottom and put it at maximum power without moving it. We will see how the mixture emulsifies and the sauce is formed. We move the arm up and down carefully to finish making the aioli. We serve the potatoes accompanied by a bowl of aioli.
Complete recipe | Roasted potatoes with paprika with aioli, recipe for a homemade snack
Baked crushed potatoes with yogurt and herbs
Ingredients for 4-6 people. 900 g of garnish type new potatoes, extra virgin olive oil, granulated garlic, 250 g of natural Greek yogurt, lemon zest, fresh chives, thyme, rosemary or oregano, black pepper and salt.
Elaboration. Preheat the oven to 180ºC, wash the potatoes and cook them in plenty of water with a little salt. Count about 12-15 minutes after the water comes to a boil again. They should be able to be pierced with a toothpick without falling apart. Drain. Distribute carefully not to burn yourself on two baking trays, leaving a certain separation between them. With a fork, mash them by pressing several times in the center of each one, being careful not to make them pop. Leave the center a little more squashed and rebuild the sides if they have been too much undone. Sprinkle each potato with a generous drizzle of olive oil, season and add garlic powder to taste. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and crisp on the sides. Beat the drained yogurt with a stick or fork. Season lightly. Chop a bunch of chives with thyme leaves, washed and dried. Top each potato with a teaspoon of yogurt, add herbs, lemon zest and an extra hit of pepper.
Complete recipe | Baked crushed potatoes with yogurt and herbs
Potato balls with tarragon
Ingredients for 4 people. 3 potatoes, a few sprigs of fresh washed tarragon or Provencal herbs, extra virgin olive oil, black pepper and salt.
Elaboration. We peel and wash the potatoes. With care we are taking out balls with a ball punch. When we can’t get any more, we reserve the leftover potatoes for an omelette or puree. To make our garnish potatoes, we will add a drizzle of olive oil on the potatoes and sprinkle them with salt and a good pinch of chopped tarragon or if we don’t have them, Provencal herbs. We put a frying pan with two or three tablespoons of oil on the fire and while it heats up, we stir the potatoes to distribute the herbs well. We brown the potatoes over medium heat, turning them until they take color on all sides and in the meantime we chop the tarragon that we will pour over the potatoes once we have removed them from the pan.
Complete recipe | Potato balls with tarragon
Directly to the Palate | Six classic tapas with potato for a most traditional weekend snack
Directly to the Palate | Octopus, cuttlefish, chopitos and squid: five recipes with cephalopods for the weekend snack