Veganuary Day 16 - Sun-dried Tomato Spread
A traditional recipe from Mallorca
Hi there!
Today, I’m sharing a traditional recipe from Mallorca, our home in Spain, well, a vegan version of the original recipe.
Tomorrow, we’re celebrating our daughter’s birthday 🎂 Lena is turning three, and we always joke that she decided to make it into this world on the meatiest day of the year here in Mallorca, Sant Antoni. The festivities of Sant Antoni are some of the most important festivals in Mallorca. Tomorrow, and for the next few days, around the island, you can find bonfires, concerts, pyrotechnic shows, and the traditional demons and giants go out into the street to celebrate with the crowds.
Do I like this holiday? I love it, and I want to make my kids part of it too; the only downside is that it is a very meat-related festivity, as they make fires to grill, so everybody brings meat and bread from home to prepare a BBQ. Over the years, it’s gotten a bit better. Now, they provide a Vegan grill, where only vegan products are allowed (even if some people ignore the signs), and they offer vegan alternatives. Still, for my kids in school, it is not so easy.
In Lena’s school, today they had Sobrasada (which is the recipe I’m sharing today), and they told us they would find a vegan alternative for her, as the original recipe is made with pork. Just yesterday they told us they couldn’t find one so we got everything we needed to make her our Sun-dried tomato spread so she could have the same as her friends in school, she was delighted with her little jar of Vegan sobrasada.
In Luca’s school, they’ll grill sausages tomorrow, so he asked if he could bring some of the Vegan sobrasada also, so that’s gonna be his snack tomorrow.
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I hope that every year, more and more people ask for vegan alternatives during these days, and meat consumption is reduced, as the celebration itself is beautiful and brings me back to my childhood, so let’s be hopeful for a future with fewer animal products, and where my kids can feel that they’re not being excluded or the different ones.
Now, you can taste a bit of this festivity from this small Island in Spain, by making your own Sobrasada, with plant-based ingredients of course! This spread is so addictive, and that’s not just me talking; you can ask my kids, husband, or friends too! (I also got the typical “this is not real Sobrasada” comment, but deep down, I know they loved it).
Ingredients
Sun-Dried tomatoes. To prepare this recipe, choose dried Sun-Dried tomatoes instead of the ones that come already in oil. Leave the tomatoes soaking in warm water for about 30 minutes to rehydrate them. You can find them in some supermarkets, health food shops or online.
Cashews. To make vegan Sobrasada you can either use raw cashews or almonds. We normally use cashews as we prefer the texture.
Pine nuts. You can substitute this ingredient and use more cashews instead, but we find that adding a tablespoon of pine nuts makes a difference in the taste of the Pâte.
Pimientos del Piquillo o Piquillo Peppers. These are jarred roasted red peppers from Spain. They have a delicious sweet and smoky flavor. You can find them online or substitute this ingredient for home-roasted Italian red peppers or jarred red peppers.
Sweet or Smoked Paprika. This is the most characteristic ingredient of the Sobrasada as it defines the taste of the spread. We choose the best brand to make our Sun-Dried Tomato Pâte, and the good news is that you can buy it online, and it will come directly from Spain! La Chinata is a Spanish company that produces the best quality of Paprika products. We use their products in many of our recipes. We make our Pâté using sweet paprika so our toddler can eat some, too, but if you enjoy spicy food, go for the smoked paprika!
Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Good quality oil is the best you can use when making raw sauces, spreads, or dips.
Garlic. The recipe calls for garlic, but you can also use garlic powder.
Black pepper.
Salt. Adjust the salt amount to your taste.
Making Process
All you need to do in order to have a delicious spread to go on your favourite bread or cracker is to combine all the ingredients mentioned above in a blender.
We use a hand blender for this step, but you can use a food processor as well.
Blend all the ingredients until you have a smooth consistency. You should be able to still see some little bits of cashew or tomato, but the consistency should be smooth, so this can take a few minutes, depending on the blender you are using.
Once made, the Sun-Dried Tomato Pâte or Vegan Sobrasada can be kept in the fridge for quite a few days. As it contains salt, it keeps good for at least 7 days if you have it in an air-tight container.
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy this spread on bread as a snack. This is definitely my favorite way to enjoy this spread, just on toasted bread.
Make Croquettes with this delicious Sobrasada. These vegan croquettes are all you need for a perfect dinner, snack, or party food.
On Pizza. We recently got a pizza oven so pizza nights are happening every week at the moment. We tried adding some Vegan Sobrasada on top of a pizza, and it was pure magic! Having this Pâte warm, on top of a doughy pizza was just delicious. Since then, I've been asking for Sobrasada on all my pizzas!
On a Snack Board. Check our ultimate Christmas or Festive Vegan Snack Board. One of the dips is actually this same recipe and every time we create a snack board, it goes on it!
On Crackers. Vegan Sobrasada is the perfect snack when served on crackers, if not, ask our little toddler Luca! He loves our Cashew Butter and this Sobrasada as a snack, definitely his two favorite spreads. You can get some more ideas for Vegan Spreads here.
Download the whole recipe for quantities and instructions. Also, you can find more information about this recipe on the blog.
I hope you enjoy the flavors of this traditional Mallorcan product, now vegan 💚
Love,
Laura.
Truly a wonderful idea