A few weeks back, I sampled some amazing Tapas in sunny Barcelona. Longing for more, I decided to recreate that holiday feeling in our back garden.
This was also the perfect opportunity for me to try out the recently launched John Lewis After Dark Edit home collection.
For a Mediterranean feel, I decided to use the blue and white Florence Side plates by Sophie Conran, which perfectly complimented my gold cutlery from Zara Home.
Remembering the beautiful Bougainvilleas that lined the streets of Spain, I styled the table with fragrant pink sweet peas.
My husband was the cook for that evening. The Tapas were served on vibrant and colourful Al Fresco plates from John Lewis.
The first dish he made was Garlic, Coriander and chilli infused King Prawns. Here’s the simple recipe:
Chop fresh garlic, Spring onions and chillis. Sautee all in a pan, then add prawns, garlic pepper and chopped Coriander. Garnish with more fresh Coriander when finished.
It was delicious!
I injected a little bit of Emerald green into the table setting with my Design House Stockholm glasses and napkins from Designer’s Guild
The next dish was Patatas Bravas, a Tapas staple and one of my absolute favourites.
Here’s the recipe: Chop potatoes into small pieces, par boil for 5 minutes then mix it with some olive oil and place onto a tray and into the oven.
Fry some onions and garlic together, then add a tin of chopped tomatoes along with some seasoning of pepper and paprika. When the sauce is ready, pour it over the roast potatoes and pop back into the oven for another 5 minutes. Serve with Mayonnaise and chopped Parsley.
Just so we felt like we were somewhere warm, I added a green succulent plant in a Matt Copper bowl.
I love the reflective earthy tone of Copper contrasted against the lighter gold from the cutlery.
Last recipe is a Spanish Frittata : Slice potatoes finely and par boil for 8 minutes. Soften onions in a pan and then add potatoes. Cook for 5 more minutes. Beat eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
Place the potato and onion into the bowl of beaten eggs, mix, then transfer all back to an oiled frying pan. Cook until firm. Serve with slices of spicy Chorizo sausages and add chopped herbs.
Here they are all together. I have added some green olives on another plate.
We sat, ate and chatted. It really felt like we were on holiday. I styled the seats with blue Ikat rectangular outdoor cushions and we even had a sunshine yellow chunky knit throw to use when the sun went down and the cool evening breeze blew.
Hope you’ve enjoyed this post. It’s a long Bank holiday weekend here in the U.K, so I thought this could inspire you to have some Mediterranean fun outdoors. Happy weekend!
( Product review in association with John Lewis)