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We here at zipiZape Artisans are proud to unveil our blog! We’re still busy setting up ZipiNotes.com, but here’s what you should expect to see:

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[Note: If this post is giving you deja vu, here's why. But for the sake of my archives, I didn't want to link these recipes to any one holiday forever -- because, frankly, once a year is not enough for those olives.]

Thanks to the whole “small plates” invasion of the last few years, you’re probably all too familiar with tapas, the classic Spanish bar snack. What you may not know, however, is that many of these tasty little dishes are incredibly easy to make.

Here, I’ve assembled a simple tapas menu. I chose these recipes mainly because: a) they’re largely vegetarian-friendly, and b) there’s a lot of overlap between ingredients, so you won’t have to kill yourself lugging home 3 bazillion groceries. Efficient, no? Most of these recipes have been adapted from Penelope Casas’s Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain (1986). Whether you’re throwing a classy party or trying to impress a date, these things go over like gangbusters (field testing confirms this). It might look like a lot of work, but the nice part is that you can prepare the most labor-intensive dishes in advance: The pimentos keep for days, and the tortilla espanola and white bean salad actually taste better when they’ve spent a few days chilling in the fridge. The rest is basically a cinch to throw together (take it from a kitchen novice). For such minimal efforts, the results are pretty impressive.

THE MENU

• crusty bread with olive oil
• cheese with quince paste (queso con membrillo)
• marinated olives (aceitunas marinadas)
• roasted peppers (pimientos)
• white bean salad (ensalada de judías blancas)
• pear turnovers (hojaldres de pera)
• Spanish omelette (tortilla española)
• Plus, a note on drink pairings

THE RECIPES

CRUSTY BREAD AND OLIVE OIL
prep time: 5 minutes

• crusty baguette or other artisanal bread loaf
• olive oil
• salt, to taste
• herbes de Province (optional)

Cut up the loaf; arrange on a plate. Pour olive oil in a shallow dish for dipping. Sprinkle salt (and, optionally, herbs) on oil to taste.

CHEESE PLATE WITH QUINCE PASTE (QUESO CON MEMBRILLO)
prep time: 5 minutes

• a few hunks of quality cheese
  • suggestions: cordobes, gran queso, drunken goat cheese (pictured); manchego, zamorano
• membrillo, quince paste (if you can’t get your hands on any, fig jam or most high-quality fruit preserves will do in a pinch)

Cut cheese into wedges. If using membrillo, consider slicing it into two 1/2-inch-thick slabs and cutting with a cookie cutter (here, I’ve used a foot shape — no symbolism there; it’s just the only cookie cutter we had in the house).

MARINATED OLIVES (ACEITUNAS MARINADAS)

prep time: 10-15 minutes

Yes, you can get something like this at the deli counter of pretty much any supermarket — but these are incredibly easy, and they just taste too damn good.

• 1 jar cured olives (for this, I bought a jar of Kalamata and a jar of green olives, and combined the two halves)
• 1 tablespoon herbes de Province
• 3 sundried tomatoes (optional), minced
• a couple glugs of olive oil (enough to provide a decent coating on olives)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 lemon, sliced thin and then coarsely chopped (try to pick out the seeds)

-Throw everything except the olives into a lidded container (any Tupperware will do); stir together.
-Add olives. Close lid. Shake well to distribute marinade evenly over olives.
-Set aside for an hour or two, or until ready to serve (refrigeration is fine, but don’t do it too long, or the olive oil will probably congeal from the cold).

PIMIENTOS
prep and cooking time: 45 minutes

A pretty standard, easy-to-make accompaniment for tapas. May be prepared well in advance.

• 4 medium sweet red, yellow, and/or orange peppers
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt

-Preheat oven to 375° F. Place peppers in an ungreased roasting pan for 17 minutes. Rotate peppers and continue roasting for another 17 minutes. Remove from oven, cover pan tightly with aluminum foil, and let cool.
-Peel peppers (the skin should basically rub right off at this point); remove stem, core and seeds; and cut each pepper into 8 strips.
-Add oil to skillet; heat until warm (but not sizzling hot). Add peppers, garlic, cayenne and salt. Sauté slowly over low heat for 8 minutes. Serve at room temperature.

SPANISH OMELETTE — CHEATER VERSION (TORTILLA ESPAÑOLA )
prep and cooking time: 45 minutes

Banish any thoughts of floury burrito wrappers — this tortilla (a classic tapa) actually falls in the realm of omelettes and frittatas. As you’ll notice, this recipe produces a rather hefty portion, with 8-10 servings — it’s roughly the size of a large dinner plate. If you’re averse to leftovers, reduce the ingredients proportionally (because of its simplicity, this recipe is a forgiving one) and fry this up in a smaller skillet. The “cheat” I’m referring to in the title is that instead of doing the fancy flipping maneuver the cookbooks suggest to cook both sides of the tortilla, I pop the pan into the oven to get the top nice and firm.

• 1 cup olive oil
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/8-inch slices
• 1/2 large onion, sliced thin
• 6 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• brown sugar, just a pinch (optional)
• 1 tomato, sliced thin (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of grated manchego cheese, or any other grated well-cured cheese, such as pecorino romano or parmesan (optional)

-Preheat oven on “broil” setting.
-Heat entire cup of oil in a large skillet. Add potatoes and onions in alternating layers, lightly salting each layer (add potato slices one at a time, so they don’t stick together). Cook slowly over medium heat (the potatoes will actually “boil” in the oil, rather than fry), lifting and turning potatoes occasionally, until they are tender but not brown.
-Drain potatoes in a colander; reserve the drained oil. (You’ll need 2 tablespoons of this in the pan for cooking the tortilla; the rest should be set aside and used with the marinated olives or as a dipping oil — it’s got a nice flavor from the onion/potato mixture.)
-In a large bowl, beat the eggs together until slightly foamy. Add salt and pepper to taste, as well as a pinch of brown sugar (optional). Add cooked onion/potato mixture to the eggs, pressing it down with a spatula until it’s completely submersed in egg. Let mixture sit for 15 minutes.
-Wipe down the skillet to remove any stuck particles; wash if necessary. Then heat 2 tablespoons of reserved oil in the skillet until it reaches the smoking point. (It has to be hot, or the eggs will stick.) Then add the onion/potato/egg mixture, spreading it out quickly in the skillet with a spatula. Sprinkle tomato slices and cheese shreds on top (optional).
-Lower heat to medium-high. Shake pan often to prevent sticking. When the edges are looking relatively solid, put skillet in the oven, and broil for 10 minutes, or until top is done.
-Flip skillet onto a large plate. Serve at room temperature or chilled, cut into wedges.

PEAR TURNOVERS (HOJALDRES DE PERA)
prep and cooking time: 30 minutes

Sure, you could make your own puff pastry dough — but this is quick-and-dirty cuisine! So we’re all about the shortcuts here. In this case, I used a package of Trader Joe’s Artisan Puff Pastry, but I’ve had a dynamite version of these that involved Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough, so by all means, go lowbrow with this one. (Makes 4 turnovers.)

• premade pastry dough
• 1 pear, peeled, cored, and chopped
• salt and pepper
• nutmeg
• blue cheese (such as Valdeon Spanish Blue)
• membrillo (quice paste) or other complementary fruit preserves
• honey and olive oil, for brushing crust (optional)

-Preheat oven to 425° F.

-Put pear chunks in pot, sprinkle with water, and simmer very briefly until just tender — do not let the pears get soggy. Drain off excess liquid.

-Lay out pastry on a parchment-covered baking sheet (or a well-greased one). Insert pears, crumbled blue cheese, and dabs of membrillo or jam in center of turnover — fill sparingly enough to be able to fold and pinch corners of pastry shut around filling.

-Optional step: Whisk a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of honey together; lightly brush mixture on pastry.

-Bake turnovers for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

WHITE BEAN SALAD (ENSALADA DE JUDÍIAS BLANCAS)

prep time: 30 minutes

You can prepare this one up to two days ahead of time; at the minimum, it needs to sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving to let the flavors gel. (Note: White bean salad not pictured.)

• 3/4 pound canned white beans (or chickpeas)
• 1 medium tomato, cubed
• 8 pitted cured black olives (Kalamata is fine)
• 3 tablespoons minced parsley
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 tablespoons white wine vinegar (to taste)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 sundried tomato, chopped fine (optional)
• 1/8 cup shaved/shredded cheese, preferably a hard, well-cured variety like manchego or pecorino romano (optional)

In a bowl, gently combine the beans, tomato, olives, and parsley. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and garlic, as well as the sundried tomato (if desired). Fold dressing into the bean mixture. Stir in cheese, if desired. Marinate in refrigerator for several hours; serve chilled.

NOTE ON DRINK PAIRINGS: If you’re having a party, and you want to get sloshed on tasty, fruity, fizzy booze for cheap, sangria’s your man. For a less casual affair, you might want to go with a nice Rioja.