Most often cooked with
Garlic
Onion
Tomato
Parsley
Lemon
Stock
Basil
Bay leafRecipes with olive oil
Albóndigas in Almond Sauce
Pork and beef meatballs simmered in a pale sauce thickened with fried bread and almonds rather than flour.
Basil Pesto
Basil, pine nuts, garlic and cheese pounded to a coarse sauce, kept cold throughout so the leaves stay green instead of bruising brown.
Braised White Beans with Sage
Dried beans soaked in salted water and held at a bare simmer, so the skins stay whole and the liquor turns silky.
Caesar Salad
Whole romaine leaves coated in an emulsion of coddled egg, anchovy, garlic and parmesan, tossed at the table and eaten with the fingers.
Chicken and Prawn Paella
Bomba rice cooked flat and never stirred in a wide pan, which keeps the grains separate and toasts a crust onto the base.
Chicken Thigh and Potato Traybake
Bone-in thighs roasted on top of potatoes and lemon in one tin, so the skin crisps above the juices rather than poaching in them.
Chickpea and Spinach Stew
Dried chickpeas cooked from scratch and thickened with fried bread pounded to a paste, which is how Seville gets body without cream.
Classic Margherita Pizza
Three toppings, nothing hidden — this is the pizza that shows whether your dough is any good.
Crunchy Cabbage Slaw
Shredded cabbage salted and drained for an hour first, so the mustard dressing stays thick instead of thinning to a puddle.
Everyday Vinaigrette
A mustard-emulsified dressing built on three parts oil to one part acid, a ratio worth memorising so you never need the recipe again.
Fabada Asturiana
Big white beans stewed slowly with chorizo, morcilla and pork until the broth turns thick and orange.
French Onion Soup
Onions cooked down for an hour until they are jammy and dark, then finished under the grill with a raft of bread and melted cheese.
Gambas al Ajillo
Prawns cooked hard in garlic oil with chilli, served still bubbling, with bread that exists to mop the pan.
Garlicky Greens
Greens wilted in garlic oil in a single wide pan, on the table in under ten minutes and the default side for almost anything.
Gazpacho
A chilled Andalusian soup of raw tomatoes, cucumber and pepper blended with bread and olive oil, which is what turns it creamy rather than watery.
Lemony Chickpea and Herb Salad
Chickpeas dressed while they are still warm so they drink the lemon and oil, then turned through parsley, mint and dill by the handful.
Mayonnaise
Egg yolk, oil and acid whisked by hand into a thick emulsion, with the drop-by-drop start that decides whether it holds or splits.
Minestrone
A chunky vegetable soup built on a slow soffritto, with beans and small pasta simmered in the broth so it thickens as it stands.
Mushroom Risotto
Carnaroli rice cooked in stock a ladle at a time and beaten with butter at the end, so it spreads on the plate rather than sitting in a heap.
No-Knead Sourdough Focaccia
A slow sourdough focaccia fermented overnight in the fridge, dimpled deep so the pockets fill with olive oil and flaky salt.
Pasta alla Norma
Fried aubergine folded through a simple tomato sauce with torn basil and salted ricotta, which is the ingredient the dish stands or falls on.
Pasta e Fagioli
Borlotti beans cooked down until half of them collapse, with small pasta cooked in the same pot so the starch thickens everything together.
Patatas Bravas
Twice-cooked potatoes under a smoky, faintly fierce tomato sauce — the one tapa every bar in Spain is judged on.
Pisto
Courgette, pepper, onion and tomato cooked separately, then together, until everything collapses into something sweet and jammy.
Pork and Fennel Meatballs
Pork mince bound with a milk and bread panade and toasted fennel seed, browned in a pan and finished in tomato sauce.
Roast Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary
A bone-in leg studded with garlic and rosemary, roasted hot then moderate and pulled off the heat pink, with gravy made in the tin.
Roast Squash and Sage Soup
Squash roasted until the cut faces caramelise, then blended with stock and sage, which gives a depth that simmering raw cubes never reaches.
Roast Squash with Sage and Chilli
Squash roasted in thick crescents with the skin left on, finished with sage crisped in oil and sliced red chilli.
Roast Tomato Soup
Tomatoes roasted hard with garlic until the edges blacken, then blitzed, so the flavour concentrates instead of thinning out in a pan of stock.
Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini
Cauliflower roasted hot in wedges so the cut faces brown, served under a tahini sauce loosened to a pouring cream with water.
Salted Tomato Salad
Ripe tomatoes salted twenty minutes ahead, then dressed with the juice that draws out of them rather than plain oil.
Shakshuka
Eggs poached directly in a spiced tomato and pepper stew, cooked and served in the one pan so the yolks stay hot to the table.
Simple Tomato Sauce
Tinned tomatoes crushed by hand and cooked slowly with garlic until the oil splits back out, which is when the sauce is done.
Skillet Flatbreads
Soft stovetop flatbreads cooked in a dry pan in about two minutes each, ready in the time a pot of dal takes to simmer down.
Slow-Cooked Beef Ragu
Coarse beef mince browned in batches then held at a bare simmer for three hours, finished in the pan with the pasta.
Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Garlic sliced thin and taken slowly to pale gold in olive oil, emulsified with pasta water into a sauce that is nothing but those two things.
Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
A store-cupboard sauce of anchovies, olives, capers and chilli melted into tomato, salty enough that it needs no cheese and barely any salt.
Spanish Potato Tortilla
Potatoes and onion softened slowly in olive oil, then set with beaten egg in a small pan and turned out on a plate to finish.
Tagliatelle al Ragù
Bolognese ragù cooked for three hours with milk and a little wine, served on fresh tagliatelle rather than spaghetti, which is what Bologna actually does.
Warm Farro and Roast Squash Bowl
Farro boiled like pasta and dressed while it is still hot, under roast squash, crisped kale and feta, so it eats as a meal.