Try something new with melons and make gazpacho. All photography courtesy Kyle Books.
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ERIC DANTIS is a professional cook in THE NIBBLE’s test kitchen.
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May 2010
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Seasonal Spanish Food
Page 2: Spanish Food Recipe Tests ~ Spring & Summer
This is Page 2 of a three-page review, plus recipes. Click on the black links below to visit the other pages.
Spanish Food Recipe Tests ~ Spring & Summer
Most of the recipes looked delicious, so we tested a handful in our test kitchen and were not disappointed.
Spring
Though the weather is turning a bit warmer, there’s still a slight chill in the air some days. On one of those days, we made the Pea Soup With Serrano Ham*, which is a gorgeously simple recipe.
This recipe involves the use of mint, which—when combined with the peas—is a homage to Chef Pizarro’s stint in England. The flavor combinations of the sweet pureed peas and mint in combination with crispy Serrano ham and toasted bread crouton were playful.
The components sound complex, but when you boil it down, you are simply making a bowl of soup and adding croutons.
Click here to read the Pea Soup recipe. |
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 Add some color to your green pea soup with Serrano ham and toasted bread.
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*If you cannot find Serrano ham, prosciutto (Parma ham) is an easy substitute.
Summer
Melon Gazpacho is an interesting recipe that could sum up the book in a word: freshness. This bread-based soup recipe* demands the freshest fruits and vegetables because everything is essentially raw. Buying produce that is in season helps ensure that your ingredients for this recipe are intensely flavored.
Unlike other gazpachos, however, this soup is not puréed and emulsified in a blender. The soup is left chunky, giving it a different dimension texturally. The recipe is also easy to follow because all you really need to do is chop up all the ingredients, combine them in a bowl and let them sit together in the refrigerator for about 4 hours so the flavors marry.
Click here to read the Gazpacho recipe. |
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Summer fruits make a great Melon Gazpacho. |
*If you don’t have any stale bread, you can substitute chopped, lightly-flavored nuts and seeds—including almonds, hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds—to thicken the soup and give the dish more depth of flavor.
Continue To Page 3: Spanish Food Recipe Tests ~ Fall & Winter
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