Tuna tapas - quick and easy treat for New Year buffet

Remember how I was supposed to go to Andalusia and tour the sherry country? And how in the end Middle East and Third intifada won? Oh, well. In the next posts we'll return there (and visit next winery of the itinerary!), but I suppose it's only fair we paid a little visit to Andalusia, too.

Having barely survived the stress over Christmas foods, I'm sure the last think you want to think about is what to serve at New Year, right? But hey - how about a fun and fuss-free tapas fiesta? And serving some sherries with them (before that Champagne pops open and starts flowing)? This is a recipe that goes with both.

These tuna tapas are one of the Basque country tapas (or, pintxos, as they're known there) classics and por que non - they're as quick as they're easy and cheap and cheerful, too! Instead of dill you can use finely chopped chives or parsley, too.

This makes enough spread for 1 baguette - that's about 20-15 pintxos

Tuna tapas:

1 baquette, diagonally sliced to 1,5 cm thick slices (and gently toasted, if you wish)

2 tins of tuna chunks in oil (à 185 g/ 140g) 

1,5 dl mayonnaise

1,5 tsp finely grated lemon zest

the juice of a lemon

1 smallish onion, very finely choppedp

3 tsp finely chopped fresh dill

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

salt, pepper

to serve: anchovies (1/ each pintxo) or capers or marinated red onion

Drain tuna. Combine the rest of the ingredients for the spread and finally fold in tuna. Check the taste, season, decorate and serve. 

As for those sherries, very cold Fino Inocente would be the best match. It also makes a good pair with olives and other fishy treats - from smoked salmon to deep-fried calamari rings. 

And what else could you have...?

If you're into seafood, you should check out these treats:

- Pulpo con sherry and pimentón - baby octopus in sherry and tomato sauce

- Spanish mussles with Jamón Serrano, orange and sherry

- Chorizo and squid salad with crunchy chickpeas

- Gambas pilpil 

On the meatier side you might like these:

- Albondigas - Spanish meat balls

- Quick and easy chorizo and chickpea salad

- Two-ingredient wonder chorizo cooked in red wine

- Chicken liver in fig and port wine sauce

And hey - how about tortilla Española, Spanish potato omelette? You can also cut it into cocktail-bites and serve topped with chorizo like I did over here. Salty and fatty sausages along with tortilla Española work well paired with something softer such as Cream (I like Valdespino's!).

And there can't be a tapas fiesta without those luscious Spanish hams. Ham and treats such as sun-dried tomatos (or oven-dried for that matter!) with a concentrated flavours with hints with vinegary elements are surprisingly good matches with sweeter varieties, such as Oloroso Blend Medium. 

For more tapas recipes just see here, for ideas on how to use sherry in cooking, just click on here!

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