Tapas Variadas

Ingredients

• 10½ ozbutton mushroomscleaned, whole, halved or sliced
• 5 clovesgarlicsliced for the mushrooms, remainder for sauces and herb oil
• ⅔ cupolive oilfor frying, roasting, drizzling and sauces
• 1 bunchparsleychopped, for sprinkling
• 3½ ozAlmondsblanched; fried and salted, or as filling or in sauce
• 10½ ozManchego cheesesliced or cubed
• 1⅓ lbpotatoeswaxy; cut and oven-roasted or boiled in salted water
• 1 bunchasparaguswoody ends trimmed
• 5jarred roasted red pepperin strips on cheese or puréed for sauce
• 1½ tspSmoked paprikafor mushrooms and sauces
• 3 tbspvinegarto deglaze the mushrooms and for dressings and sauces
• 1lemonjuice for dressing, aioli or asparagus
• saltto taste
• black pepperto taste
• 6serrano hamslices, halved, placed on mushrooms (optional)
• 1⅛ lbolivesgreen almond-stuffed and black with pits, tossed in herb oil (optional)
• 20datespitted, stuffed with an almond (optional)
• 3½ ozbaconfor wrapping the dates (optional)

Method

1. Roast the potatoes until crispHeat the oven to 480 °F. Cut the potatoes into chunks or slices, toss them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast them on a tray for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and crisp.
2. Toast the almondsSet aside a handful of almonds for the sauce and, if you're making the dates, one almond per date. Toast the rest in a little olive oil, stirring constantly, until golden, then salt them and let them cool on kitchen paper.
3. Blend the pepper-almond sauceFor the potato sauce, blend some of the roasted peppers with the reserved almonds, a clove of garlic, a good glug of olive oil, a splash of vinegar and a pinch of smoked paprika. Season with salt.
4. Cook the green asparagusDrizzle the green asparagus with olive oil and cook it in a griddle pan or on a tray in the hot oven for 4 to 9 minutes, depending on thickness. Salt it and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
5. Fry the garlic mushroomsSlice three garlic cloves and fry them in olive oil until golden. Add the mushrooms and cook them for 3 to 5 minutes, turning them as you go. Season with salt and pepper, deglaze with a splash of vinegar, add smoked paprika and scatter over chopped parsley. If you like, lay halved slices of Serrano ham over the mushrooms.
6. Top the Manchego with peppersCut the Manchego into slices or cubes and top it with strips of the remaining roasted peppers.
7. Bacon dates and dressed olivesIf you're making them, stuff the pitted dates with an almond each, wrap them in bacon and fry them in a pan, turning, until the bacon is crisp all over. For the olives, stir the last garlic clove, finely chopped, into some olive oil with chopped parsley and toss the olives through it.
8. Arrange and serveArrange everything in small bowls on a big platter and set the sauce next to the roast potatoes.

Tips and variations

The mushrooms are also lovely with onion and white wine instead of vinegar, or you can thread them, once fried, onto skewers with Serrano ham, a cherry tomato and basil. For a change from the peppers, thread cubes of Manchego onto skewers with pieces of fig, and serve cranberries and herb olives alongside. If you want to stretch the spread, add anchovy rolls with chilli, marinated avocado with raisins and pine nuts, or montaditos made with baguette, Manchego and scrambled egg. A fully vegan spread leaves out the Manchego, the Serrano ham and the bacon-wrapped dates and brings papas arrugadas with mojo picón, asparagus with romesco and roast potatoes with saffron-paprika sauce to the table instead. Bring everything to the table at once so everyone can graze their way across the bowls.