Food

A lazy Spanish lunch with friends

Paid partnership with Campo Viejo wines

#LiveUncorked

I’ll admit it. I’m terrible at being a host. Not in the sense that I leave my guests hanging for hours or that I only provide Sainsbury’s dips and tortilla chips (quite the opposite in fact, I have to stop myself going overboard) but more that I only ever invite friends over for meals about once a year, if that. #BadFriend

Campo Viejo (aka my hands-down favourite wine) asked me to show you how I can live my life a little more ‘uncorked’ – that’s to say, a little more spontaneous, a little more slow paced, a little more with friends, a little more… Spanish. After all, it’s all very well me picking up a bottle of their Rioja Reserva every weekend but if I’m just going to sip it in my dressing gown in front of the TV on a Friday night then I’m really experiencing it properly am I?

My rather impromptu Spanish lunch with friends made me realise that Rioja Reserva at 1pm with friends tastes so, so much better. This, I told myself, would kick-start my new year of entertaining. Here’s what I prepped and got up to.

Low and slow

Inspired by Campo Viejo, I knew I wanted to make my lunch gathering colourful and Spanish-themed. Not too hard when you’re as colour-loving as me! Nothing in my kitchen is quite as colourful however as my new slow cooker (thanks Father Christmas!) so out it came along with Pinterest recipes for Spanish slow cooked chicken, patatas bravas, manchego asparagus and tomato rice.

After throwing everything in the slow cooker I prepped the potatoes, which was SO DAMN EASY (you basically just toss potatoes in paprika and whack it in the oven) so I’ll be making these again very soon. Finally I put together a cheese, meats and bread board, grabbed flowers from my local florist and pulled out all of my best crockery including my favourite Spanish plate, hand made in Almeria where we have an apartment. Sure, our wine glasses and plates were miss-matched but what really mattered was what was in it right?

Campo Viejo wines

Following on the theme of putting Christmas presents to good use, I’ve been using my red wine carafe continuously since I got it and today was no exception! I like to let the wine aerate and warm up to room temperature before serving. Maybe the improved taste is all a placebo but the carafe makes a beautiful addition to the table none the less!

Finally Supal, Jumar, Kristabel, Carrie and Stephen arrived and we got stuck into the food with my Tequila Fridays playlist on to get us wiggling with our wine. We chatted all things Indian weddings, Jumar’s house move and Kristabel and my upcoming trip to Jamaica in between bouts of laughter.

For dessert I brought out a warm apricot tart and vanilla cream (whilst possibly pretending that I made it). We cracked open a bottle of Campo Viejo Cava Brut Reserva to round off the meal because, well why the hell not?

It’s not every day I cook for my friends. But I will be doing it more than once a year from now on. Promise.