Almonds are commonly found in Spanish cooking as well as being served in various combinations as a snack, tapas or entree. They are served either blanched or very commonly, certainly in the south the almonds are fried in olive oil and then sprinkled with salt.
As a traditional tapas almonds may be served in their natural form, complete with brown skin, blanched, toasted or fried, whichever way they come is certainly enjoyable with a glass of beer or wine.
Introduced to the Spanish mainland by the Moors the Spanish readily took to their use creating meat and nut savoury dishes. The first almond groves were planted in Andalucia, near Granada and these versatile and healthy nuts are often used in their ground form as a substitute for flour in desserts or as a thickening agent.
Almonds are also the main ingredients, along with honey, in the traditional Christmas sweet or candy called turrón, which comes in many varieties and forms and is rather like nougat, it can be hard can brittle or soft and fudgy.
Almonds don't have very good keeping qualities because of their high fat content, they can become rancid quickly so buy only small quantities at a time and keep them in a cool dark place or in the fridge, they can even be kept in the freezer. It's best to buy then in the skins and blanch them yourselves to prevent them from drying out, and they are cheaper this way.
How to blanch almonds
Put the almonds with their skin in a heatproof bowl and add boiling water, leave them for one minute then dry them with kitchen paper and the skins should rub off easily.
Spicy Almonds with Paprika
Ingredients - serves 4-6
- 11/4tbsp. coarse sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. hot paprika
- 31/2 cups blanched almonds
- extra virgin olive oil
Method
- Using a mortar and pestle grind the sea salt and the paprika into a really fine, very well mixed powder.
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Place the almonds on a baking tray and toast for around 8-10 minutes,turning over once or twice to enable even browning. Once they start browning they need careful watching as they can soon burn. Tip immediately into a heatproof bowl, if they are left on the tin they will carry on cooking and blacken.
- Slowly drizzle about 1 tsp of olive oil over the almonds and toss to make sure they are evenly coated, adding more oil if necessary. Sprinkle with the salt and paprika mixture and toss well.
Serving tip
They do retain their heat quite well - so make sure they are not too hot when served!
For healthy eating nut information see my article Pistachios for a healthy heart
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