In the last 30 years over a million copies of 1080 have been sold in Spain. It is the bible of Spanish cookery, Spain's favourite cookbook, and contains recipes for everything from little ham croquetas, perfect paellas or tortilla Espanol to patatas con chorizo and pigs' trotters, Spanish style. The original book was written by Simone Ortega, a Spanish food writer who has been writing for 50 years and whose work is hugely respected by luminaries like the Spanish über-chef, Ferran Adrià: 'This is an historic book, for those who like to feed the soul as well as the stomach.'
The book has now been translated into English for the first time. Simone's daughter, Inés, herself a well-known foodie, teamed up with her mother to revise and update the original. The result is truly comprehensive, containing 1,080 recipes, with clear explanations to help non-natives cook impressive tapas or bigger traditional dishes. There are lots of helpful notes about alternative ingredients, or what to do to change the texture of a dish. If you've ever wanted to be able to cook Spanish food, this is really the only book you'll ever need to buy.
My paella
Serves 6-8
300g raw unpeeled prawns
1kg mussels or 500g carpetshell, Venus or warty Venus clams
175ml olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tbs tomato sauce or 1 large, ripe tomato, chopped
2 small squid cleaned and cut into 5mm-thick rings
500g long-grain rice
3 sprigs fresh parsley
pinch of saffron threads
2 chicken stock cubes
100g canned peas, drained
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into strips
salt
lemon wedges
Peel the prawns and set the tails aside. Put the heads and shells into a saucepan, pour in plenty of water and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and strain the stock into a bowl. If using the mussels, scrape the shells with the blade of a knife and remove the 'beards', then scrub under cold running water.
If using the clams, scrub under cold running water. Discard any shellfish with broken shells or any that do not shut immediately when sharply tapped. Put the shellfish in a saucepan or frying pan, add 50ml water, cover and cook over a high heat for 3-6 minutes or until the shells have opened.
Lift out the shellfish with a slotted spoon, discarding any that remain closed. Reserve the cooking liquid. Remove nearly all the shellfish from their shells but leave a few in the shell or half-shell for the garnish. Strain the reserved cooking liquid through a muslin-lined sieve into the prawn stock.
Measure and make up to 3 pints with water, if necessary. Pour into a saucepan and heat gently, but do not allow to boil. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Put just enough of the oil to cover the base into a paella pan or large, heavy-based frying pan with a metal handle, and heat it.
Add the onion and garlic and cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the tomato sauce or fresh tomato and cook, stirring constantly, for a few minutes. Reserve a few prawns for the garnish and add the remainder to the pan with the squid rings and rice.
Cook, stirring constantly, until the squid becomes opaque. Add the shelled mussels or clams. Season with a pinch of salt and pour in the hot stock. Gently shake the pan to make sure the liquid is evenly distributed. Pound the parsley with the saffron in a mortar, then stir in 2 tablespoons water and add to the paella pan.
Crumble in the stock cubes. Gently shake the pan or stir with a wooden spoon. Add the peas to the paella and cook for a few minutes more. Garnish the paella with the strips of red pepper, the reserved prawns and the reserved shellfish in the shell. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for about 25 minutes.
Spread out a dampened tea towel on a work surface. Remove the paella pan from the oven, place it on the tea towel and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Serve the paella with lemon wedges hung over the side of the pan.
Seafood noodles
Serves 6
300g raw, unpeeled prawns
400g monkfish
175ml olive oil
6 small langoustines or Dublin Bay prawns
4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp paprika
pinch of saffron powder
500g very fine noodles
salt
Peel the prawns, reserving the heads and shells. Set the prawns aside. Cut along either side of the monkfish bone, set the fillets aside and reserve the bone. Pour 3 pints water into a saucepan, add a pinch of salt, the prawn heads and shells and the monkfish bone and bring to the boil.
Lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the monkfish fillets into 2cm cubes. Remove the pan from the heat, leave to cool slightly then strain the stock into a bowl and set aside. Heat the oil in a paella pan or flameproof earthenware dish.
Add the langoustines or Dublin Bay Prawns and cook for a few minutes, then add the prawn tails and monkfish. Cook for a few minutes more, then transfer to a plate and set aside. Add the tomato and garlic to the paella pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
Stir in the paprika and saffron and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Add the noodles to the paella pan, stir with a wooden spoon and pour in 1.5 litres of the reserved stock. Cook over a high heat for 12 minutes, add the seafood, placing it carefully around the dish, and cook for a further 3 minutes. Transfer to the oven and bake for about 5 minutes, until the top is lightly coloured. Serve immediately straight from the dish.
Note: You can also substitute mussels for the langoustines. They are less expensive but are also very tasty. If you are substituting mussels for langoustines, use their strained cooking liquid instead of the fish stock, and shell them before adding them to the dish.
Green peppers stuffed with meat
Serves 6
12 green peppers
500ml sunflower oil
300g minced meat (half pork and half beef)
100g Serrano ham, minced
1 slice of bread, crusts removed and soaked in hot milk
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbs white wine
salt
Sauce
1 large onion, chopped
1 large ripe tomato, seeded and quartered
2 carrots, sliced
1 tbs plain flour
175ml white wine
sea salt
Cut out the stalks and remove the seeds from the peppers. Make the filling. If you are mincing the meat yourself, mince the ham at the same time. Otherwise, thoroughly mix the meat and ham together in a bowl. Gently squeeze out the bread, if necessary, and add it to the bowl with the garlic, parsley, egg and wine.
Season with salt and mix well. Fill the peppers with the meat mixture, using a teaspoon, and secure with wooden cocktail sticks. Heat the oil with 2 tablespoons water in a deep frying pan. Add the peppers, three at a time, and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked peppers to a clean saucepan, arranging them in a single layer.
Drain all but about 5 tablespoons of the oil from the frying pan and reheat. Add the onion and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until browned. Add the tomato and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes, then stir in the wine and 1 litre water. Simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool a little, then transfer to a food processor, process until smooth and pour into the saucepan of peppers. Season with salt and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. If the sauce is too thick, add a little hot water.
Serve in a warm deep dish. This dish can be made in advance and is quite delicious when it is reheated.
Sea bream baked with garlic, parsley and vinegar
Serves 6
250ml olive oil
1 large potato, sliced
1 sea bream or snapper, about 1.5kg, trimmed, scaled and cleaned
2-3 large sprigs fresh fennel
3 tbs white-wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbs chopped fresh parsley
salt
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Heat the oil in a small frying pan. Add the potato slices and cook, turning occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until softened but not browned. Remove with a fish slice, lightly season with salt and put into an ovenproof dish. Reserve the oil.
Season the fish inside and out with salt and reshape. Put one of the fennel sprigs in the cavity and put the fish in the dish. Place a fennel sprig underneath it and place the other on top. Pour 2 tablespoons of the reserved oil over the fish and bake for about 10 minutes.
Remove the dish from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 220C/gas 7. Remove and discard the fennel. Carefully pour half the vinegar inside the cavity, then sprinkle in half the garlic and half the parsley.
Close the fish, pour the remaining vinegar over it and sprinkle with the remaining garlic and parsley. Return to the oven for about 8 minutes, until the flesh flakes easily, and serve immediately straight from the dish.
Important potatoes
Serves 6
1 kg potatoes, cut into 5mm slices
80-120g plain flour
4 eggs
sunflower oil, for deep-frying
1 clove garlic
pinch of saffron threads
1 onion, very finely chopped
1 tbs chopped fresh parsley
salt
Season the potato slices with salt. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the flour and spread out the remainder in a shallow dish. Lightly beat the eggs in another shallow dish. Dip the potato slices first in the flour and then in the beaten egg.
Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or saucepan to 180-190C/gas 4-5 or until a cube of day-old bread browns in 30 seconds. Add the potato slices, four at a time, and cook until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Transfer to a flameproof casserole, arranging them in loosely packed layers. Pound the garlic with a pinch of salt in a mortar, stir in the saffron, add a little water and pound again.
Transfer 3 tablespoons of the oil to a saucepan and heat. Add onion and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the reserved flour, then add the contents of the mortar, 1 litre water and a pinch of salt.
Strain this mixture over the potatoes, sprinkle with the parsley and simmer over a low heat for 30 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6.
When the cooking time is up, transfer the casserole to the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Serve immediately from the casserole.
Potatoes with chorizo and bacon
Serves 4
40g lard
5 tbs sunflower oil
50g chorizo, peeled and thinly sliced
100g thickly sliced bacon rashers, cut into 1cm-wide strips
1.5kg small potatoes, preferably new
1 tbs chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
salt
Melt the lard with the oil in a saucepan or large frying pan. (It needs to be big enough to hold the potatoes in a single layer.) Add the chorizo and bacon and cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for a few minutes, then add the potatoes.
Season with salt and cook over a low heat, shaking the pan occasionally, for 45-60 minutes, until the potatoes are evenly browned. Just before serving, sprinkle with the parsley and garlic and stir for a few minutes more. Transfer to a warm serving dish and serve immediately. Note: Some types of chorizo become hard with prolonged cooking. To prevent this, cook the slices with the bacon, then remove and set aside. About 10 minutes before serving, return the slices of chorizo to the pan.
Roast chicken stuffed with pears, pistachios, sausage and bacon
This dish is usually made in Spain with a capon, a cockerel that has been castrated at a young age. In the UK, the practice is banned on animal welfare grounds, and the recipe works perfectly well with chicken, preferably free-range and organic.
Serves 6
2 slices bread, crusts removed
100ml milk
1 chicken or turkey, 1.8kg with giblets
10 pears
300g sausage meat
100g bacon, diced
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg
1 egg yolk
100g pistachio nuts, chopped and shelled
20g pine nuts
1 stick celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tbs green peppercorns
100g lard or goose fat or 5 tbs sunflower oil
1 bottle red wine
1 1/2 tbs clear honey
salt and pepper
Put the bread in a bowl, pour in the milk and leave to soak for 10 minutes, then drain. Preheat the oven to 240C/gas 9.
Season the inside of the bird with salt and pepper. Chop the liver and heart. Slit the gizzard, remove and discard the gravel sac, then chop. Put the chopped giblets into a bowl. Peel, core and chop two of the pears and add to the bowl along with the sausage meat, bacon, nutmeg, egg, egg yolk, pistachio nuts, pine nuts, celery, onion, half the peppercorns and the soaked bread. Mix well, then stuff the bird with this mixture. Close the cavities with trussing thread.
Spread the lard or fat over the bird or brush it with the oil and put into a roasting tin. Roast for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180C/gas 4 and roast, basting frequently, for a further 2 hours.
Check that it is done by piercing the thickest part of the thigh with the point of a sharp knife; if the juices run clear and the meat is no longer pink, the chicken is cooked.
Meanwhile, peel and core the remaining pears, put them into a saucepan and add the wine, peppercorns and the honey. Cook over a medium heat for 20 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool. Remove the bird from the roasting tin and cover with foil. Skim off the fat from the cooking juices and add 200ml of the cooking liquid from the pears.
Cook over a medium heat until reduced by half. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Carve the bird and scoop out the stuffing and place on a warm serving dish. Halve the pears, place a little stuffing in the cavities and put on the dish. Serve immediately, offering the sauce separately.
Serves 6
4 tbs olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
100g Serrano ham, diced
6 lettuce leaves, shredded
1 tbs plain flour
500g carrots, diced
750g small, young globe artichokes
1 lemon, halved
2 turnips, diced
500g green beans, trimmed and cut into short lengths
1kg peas, shelled
salt
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until softened and translucent. Add the ham and lettuce and cook for a few minutes, then stir in the flour. Add the carrot and pour in enough water to cover. Simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, remove and discard the tough outer leaves of the artichokes and cut off the tops of the remaining leaves. Cut the artichokes lengthways into halves or quarters, depending on their size, and remove the chokes with a teaspoon. Rub the artichokes all over with the lemon halves to prevent them turning black.
Add the artichokes, turnip, beans, peas and a pinch of salt to the pan.Simmer over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes, until the vegetables are tender but not falling apart.
If the soup is too liquid, remove some of the stock before serving. Garnish with slices of hard-boiled egg, if you like. Note: This is a very flexible recipe; you can use different seasonal vegetables.
Poached eggs with asparagus
Serves 6
18 fresh or canned asparagus spears
50g butter
8 eggs
475ml milk
6 slices of bread
2 tbs sunflower oil
2 tbs plain flour
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 tbs white-wine vinegar
salt
If using fresh asparagus, trim and cook in a saucepan of salted boiling water for 20 minutes, until tender. If using canned asparagus, drain and heat gently. Melt half the butter in a frying pan. Lightly beat two of the eggs in a shallow dish and pour the milk into another shallow dish.
Dip the slices of bread in the milk and then in the beaten eggs. Reserve the remaining milk. Add the bread to the frying pan and cook until golden brown on both sides. Remove with a fish slice and keep warm. Melt the remaining butter with the oil in a frying pan.
Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Gradually stir in the reserved milk, a little at a time. Cook, stirring constantly, for 6-8 minutes, until thickened. Season with salt, stir in the nutmeg and keep warm. Poach the remaining eggs, three at a time, with the vinegar. Transfer the bread to a warm serving dish and put an egg on each slice. Cover with the sauce and place the asparagus on top. Serve immediately. Note: you can use chopped truffles or ham instead of asparagus.
Smoked-trout or smoked-eel canapés
Serves 20
5 slices of bread, each cut into 4x4 cm rounds and toasted
50g butter
200g smoked-trout or smoked-eel fillet, finely chopped
1 lemon
Spread the rounds of toasted bread with butter and top with the smoked-trout or smoked-eel fillet. Sprinkle lemon juice on each .
Galician stew
Serves 6
250g dried haricot beans, soaked overnight in cold water and drained
150g ham
2 beef shin bones
500g lean beef
4 potatoes
500g turnip tops or Savoy cabbage
1 tbs lard
salt
Put the beans in a saucepan and add cold water to cover. Bring to the boil and drain. Add fresh cold water to cover and bring back to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
Drain well. Put the ham, shin bones, beef, potatoes, turnip tops or cabbage and lard into a large stockpot. Add enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 1 hour. Add the beans, simmer for 30 minutes more and serve hot.
Rice with fish and seafood
Serves 4
175ml olive oil
150g onions, chopped
300g tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 clove garlic
pinch of saffron threads
150g monkfish fillet, cut into chunks
150g conger-eel steak, cut into chunks and bones removed
150g gurnard fillet, cut into chunks
200g scorpion fish (Aus. latchet) fillet, cut into chunks
150g raw Mediterranean prawns, peeled
675g long-grain rice
salt and pepper
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, until beginning to brown. Add the tomato, bay leaf, parsley and thyme and pour in 1.5 litres water.
Pound the garlic with the saffron in a mortar and add to the pan. Bring to the boil and add the fish and prawns. Season with salt and pepper and cook over a high or medium-high heat for 15 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fish and prawns to a serving dish and keep warm. Strain the fish stock into a flameproof casserole and bring to the boil. Add the rice, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Remove the casserole from the heat and leave to stand, still covered, for 5 minutes. Lightly stir with a fork to separate the grains. Serve the rice in the casserole with the fish and prawns served separately on a serving dish.
Chickpea stew with spinach
Serves 6
500g dried chickpeas
pinch of bicarbonate of soda
200g salt-cod fillet
1/2 bulb garlic
1 bay leaf
2 small onions
1kg spinach, coarse stalks removed
6 tbs olive oil
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1 tbs plain flour
1 tsp paprika
1 sprig fresh parsley
salt
Put the chickpeas in a bowl, pour in warm water to cover and add the bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt. Leave to soak for at least 12 hours, then drain and rinse well. Meanwhile, put the salt cod in a bowl, add cold water to cover and leave to soak for at least 12 hours, changing the water three or four times. (Each time you change the water rinse out the bowl as salt tends to deposit on the base.)
Put the chickpeas into a large saucepan and pour in hot, but not boiling, water to cover. Reserve a garlic clove and add the remainder of the bulb to the pan with the bay leaf and one of the onions. Cook over a medium heat for 2-2 1/2 hours.
Drain the salt cod, add to the pan and cook for a further 30 minutes. Add the spinach and cook for 8 minutes more. Finely chop the remaining onion. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until golden.
Add the tomato and cook, stirring and breaking it up with the side of the spoon, for a further 10 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the paprika and remove the pan from the heat. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then transfer to a food processor, process to a puree and stir into the chickpeas. Season to taste with salt. Pound the parsley with the reserved garlic clove in a mortar, stir in 1 tablespoon of the cooking liquid from the chickpeas, then stir into the pan. Cook for 15-20 minutes and serve in a soup tureen.
Aubergines stuffed with rice
Serves 6
6 aubergines
6 tbs olive oil
6 tbs long-grain rice
2 tbs breadcrumbs
50g butter
salt
Tomato sauce:
2 tbs olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
500g very ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 tsp sugar
salt
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Make a very concentrated tomato sauce. Cut the aubergines in half lengthways, slash the flesh, season lightly with salt and put them into an ovenproof dish. Pour the oil over them and roast for 30 minutes, until the flesh is soft.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of unsalted water to the boil. Add the rice, stir to prevent the grains from clumping together and cook over a high heat for 12-15 minutes, until tender.
Drain the rice in a large colander and rinse well under cold running water, stirring to ensure that it is well washed. (The cooking time depends on the type of rice.) Drain well again and season lightly with salt while it is still in the colander. Remove the aubergines from the oven but do not switch off the oven.
Leave to cool slightly, then scoop out the flesh with a teaspoon without piercing the skins. Remove and discard the seeds, then chop the flesh. Mix together the aubergine flesh, rice and tomato sauce in a bowl and divide the mixture among the aubergine skins.
Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and dot with the butter. Return to the oven and cook for about 25 minutes, until golden. Serve immediately, straight from the dish.
· 1080 Recipes by Simone and Inés Ortega is published by Phaidon, £24.95. To order a copy for £22.95 with free UK p&p go to observer.co.uk/bookshop or call 0870 836 0885
