Prep Time 10 minutes - Total Time 40 minutes - Serves 2 as a tapa
A staple in any good tapas bar in Spain and one of my favourites. There is nothing better than being sat in the sun with a cold beer and a table full of beautiful tapas.
Patatas Bravas roughly translated means brave potatoes or spicy potatoes. Fried till golden and crispy topped with a spicy tomato sauce. But that is where mine differs. I do it with a spicy roasted red pepper sauce instead and it works so well.
(You will also find this recipe on page 166 of my book Richard’s Family Favourites click here)
Ingredients
5 large potatoes, peeled, cut into equal bite-size pieces.
1 small onion, sliced.
2 garlic cloves, sliced.
1 tbsp of smoked paprika.
3 roasted peppers from a jar.
Chilli flakes to taste.
1 small handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped.
Splash of sherry vinegar.
Method
Place the potatoes into a large pan of salted boiling water and cook until just tender. Roughly around 10 minutes depending on how big they are. Once cooked, drain, then pop back into the pan with a lid and leave for a few minutes.
To cook the potatoes you can do this in 1 of 3 ways... FRYING PAN: Take a large nonstick frying pan and add around 2 cm of oil. Shallow fry in a single layer turning regularly, cook till crispy and golden brown. Once done drain on kitchen paper and season with salt. OVEN: Place all the potatoes in a single layer with a good drizzle of oil. Roast in a preheated oven set at 200℃till crispy and golden brown. Basically just like you would a roast potato on a Sunday. DEEP FAT FRYER: This is my favourite way to do it and how they do them in Spain. Add the potatoes to the basket and deep fry at 180℃ for 5 minutes or till crispy and golden brown. Once done drain on kitchen paper and season with salt.
For the brava sauce fry the onions and garlic in a drizzle of olive oil over a medium-low heat. Cook for around 5 minutes or till the onions and garlic start to go soft. Add the chilli flakes, paprika and continue to fry for another few minutes.
Once the onions are done add to a food blender along with the roasted peppers and the sherry vinegar. Whizz for a minute or so till you have a smooth sauce. Check for seasoning and adjust just accordingly.
To finish, pile the potatoes high in a bowl and top with the brava sauce. Sprinkle with parsley and a little dusting of some extra paprika. Serve with some aioli and with lots of other tapas such as chorizo.