Patatas a la Riojana

This Spanish recipe for patatas a la Riojana is simple, but does require a little planning. Simple flavours and hearty make this great as a meal, a side dish – or in smaller portions as a tapa. Enjoy!

Ingredients – serves 2 for a meal with bread, 4 as a side dish or 8 as a tapa

• 4 large potatoes, peeled, parboiled and then diced (1/2 inch cubes)
• 300 grams of chorizo – cut into bite size chunks
• 1 small jar/tin of roasted red peppers – drained and cut to bite-size
• 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch rings
• 4 garlic cloves – finely sliced
• 1 bottle of white wine (white Rioja is best – but any medium will do)
• 1 level teaspoon of paprika (smoky is best)
• 1 level teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• Olive oil for sautéing (how do you even spell that?!)

Method

• Heat a good glug of olive oil in a heavy based pan or cazuela
• Lob in the chorizo and allow it to cook slowly, releasing its flavour into the oil
• Throw in the onion
• Keep stirring over a low/medium heat until everything is softened but not browned
• Now add the paprika, cayenne and garlic – stir well
• Add the red peppers and potatoes – stir well
• Pour in a small glass of wine and bring to the boil – just long enough for the potatoes to soften
• If it starts to boil dry before the potatoes are soft – add a little water. I like this to ooze with just a little extra sauce. But if you want it to be more like a stew… add more water
• Serve hot with the rest of the bottle of Rioja!

Spain Buddy tips

Not really sure what tips we can give you here because the recipe speaks for itself – but we ‘ve found the following work well:

• Asparagus tips
• Fresh green beans
• Sugar snap peas
• Green pepper
• Yellow pepper
• Leek
• Don’t be tempted to add chilli – the paprika and cayenne give it a nice warmth. This isn’t a spicy dish
• A pinh of saffron really enhances this dish

Elle Draper

Elle, along with Alan, is the owner of Spain Buddy and the busy web design business – Spain Web Design by Gandy-Draper.
Born a “Norverner”, she then spent most of her life “Dann Saff” before moving to Spain in 2006. Elle’s loves are Alan, the internet, dogs, good food, and dry white wine – although not necessarily in that order.