What You’ll Need
- 4 medium potatoes
- Salt to taste
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups Spanish olive oil for frying
- 1 16 -ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- 1 teaspoon sweet Spanish paprika
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar (or sherry vinegar)
How to Make It
- Start by peeling the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into 1/3″ to 1/2″ chunks as follows: Cut the potato lengthwise, then cut it lengthwise again.
- You should have four long pieces. Now, cut each of those pieces into 3-4 pieces, cutting crosswise. This should give you nice bite-sized pieces, small enough to use a toothpick to skewer. Sprinkle with salt.
- Pour the olive oil into a wide, deep frying pan, with a heavy bottom. Heat the oil on medium-high until hot. To test the oil, carefully place one piece of potato in the oil. It is hot enough if the potato immediately fries. If there is no bubbling/frying, the oil is not hot enough and the potato will absorb too much oil.
- Once the potatoes are fried (about 10 minutes), use a slotted spoon or a spatula to remove and set them aside on paper towels to drain.
- Using a small 8-inch frying pan, put 1-2 tablespoons of the olive oil in the pan. Heat over medium heat.
- Pour tomato sauce into the pan and “saute” the tomato sauce for 5 minutes.
- Turn heat down and add the mustard, stirring well.
- Finally, add the Tabasco and paprika, and mix well.
- Taste the sauce and adjust as necessary with salt, more Tabasco, etc.
- Place the potatoes on a plate or in a wide open dish.
- Pour the sauce over the potatoes and serve warm, with toothpicks.
Another dish that uses fried potato chunks to start, and finishes with a garlicky sauce is patatas con alioli. Alioli is a garlicky mayonnaise that goes perfectly with hot or cold potatoes. You could even try serving these side by side as complementary tapas, which we call patatas bravioli.