Barcelona - you stole my heart. You made me eat tapas.So much Tapas.

I love Barcelona. Unpretentious. Friendly. Old town and new town.  And Tapas. Tempting tapas! 

The Catalan capital is a city that lets you wander - aimlessly if you like; as we did: Stumbling upon hidden streets and strolling musicians; dancing in sunlit courtyards; a food market groaning under the weight of tapas upon tapas and pea-shelling peoples and the chance to taste; to try. Repeat.

Which we did. I'd like to say that our tapas touring and tasting was purely for research purposes - we are catering for an amazing barn wedding this summer where the emphasis will be on relaxed tapas style food - so I suppose to a certain extent it was. I came away totally inspired by wonderful combinations of flavour and presentation; great ideas for hearty canapes - based on the montaditos (sculpted tapas served on bread); and a reinforced appreciation of small taster dishes kicking a real punch.

I loved some of the nu-trad tapas bars as much as the darker, heavily wooded ones. I loved the milk-soaked anchovies added to oxtail stew;  crispy jamon; patatas bravas with aioli - not so much the spiced tomato versions: I became connoisseur of chocos (creamy squid rings) and garlic and tomato bread - ideally toasted on a griddle pan until almost charred.

I drank mojito cocktails and rose wine - the former because one particular bar made the best I've ever had; with spicy stem ginger and angostura bitter. Tapas tasted good with both.

So now to the kitchen. To practice tapas Lazy Sunday style. Maybe even with a mojito to hand. In fact, almost definitely!

Thinking ahead to next year's Autumn weddings.

Wedding bookings have  been coming in fairly quickly for next year (I'm delighted. Thankyou, trusty brides!!) So I've been experimenting with some new recipes in advance of September next year. Beetroot is one of my favourite roots - I make icecream and crumbles and all sorts with it. But I decided on beetroot and feta tarts with coriander - and the salty feta worked really well with the earthy beetroot. It's important to have a really thin, crispy pastry - these are filling wee tarts and as a starter at a wedding meal you don't want to go too heavy, or too rich.

To test these delights, I sent a dozen tartlets off in a box with my husband - I reckoned that half way through a yacht race on the Firth of Forth on a truly windy day would be a good  way to gauge response. The team ate them, and loved them. So guess what - they'll be featuring at weddings next year at a venue near you!! 

Scroll down for the recipe below.

Recipe (Serves 8)
I use a food processor to make shortcrust pastry. It keeps the mixture cold. Also, keep the butter cold. It makes better pastry
    

• 250/8oz plain flour
  pinch of salt
  110g/4oz butter, cubed
  60-90ml/4-6 tbsp cold water
  
  
  
  
  2 beetroots - skinned and roasted, cubed and cooled.
  250g feta cheese, cubed.
  fresh coriander - chopped
  4 eggs
  6 tbsp double cream
  seasoning - go easy on the salt, the feta is salty already!
  
  
  Pulse the flour, butter and seasoning in the food processor until like breadcrumbs. Add the water slowly with the processor set to slow. Stop when the mixture forms one big ball.
  
  
  Roll out the pastry and line 8 individual loose - based tartlet tins. Don't grease the tins - the flour from rolling the pastry will be enough. Put a circle of greaseproof paper on top of each of the tarts and flatten with pasta or baking beans. Put in the fridge and chill for 30 mins. This stops the pastry shrinking when you bake it. Bake the tarts blind for 20 mins at 180 degrees. Remove from the oven and gently remove the beans and the greaseproof paper. Add the cubed beetroot, feta, coriander. Whisk the eggs and the cream together. Pour over the beetroot filling and bake for another 20 mins or until the custard filling has set.
  
  
  Serve with salad and balsamic dressing. (Equally delicious hot or cold.)
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