On our last European holiday, we had to opportunity to spend a few days in the gorgeous city of San Sebastian located in Basque country. Our fondest memories of San Sebastian are intricately associated with the food there… of course.

San Sebastian is very well known for it’s numerous Michelin star restaurants, however, you don’t have to dine in a Michelin restaurant to experience great food. Both tourists and locals are seen grazing through the amazing Pintxos that are on display at all the bars located within the old City and the Gros area.

Pintxo is translated as a “small snack” similar to Tapas, which can be consumed at any time of the day and is usually washed down with a glass of Spanish wine. If you are planning to visit this fabulous town, it is essential that you spend a Thursday there. Thursday nights in San Sebastian are ‘cheap and cheery’ as most of the bars in the Gros area offer Pintxos and glass of wine for only 2 Euro!! So you could imagine how busy all the bars are on a Thursday night. We were in heaven!

The mood is festive but relaxed as you hop from bar to bar… drinking Spanish wine and eating skewered combinations of  Jamon, pickled peppers, baccala fritters, anchovies, octopus, roasted peppers, cheese and caviar.

Back at home, we recently had a small party and wanted to recreate a little of our San Sebastian experience for our guests. We made a selection of simple Pintxos… here are our recipes.

We visited our local Casa Iberica Deli in Melbourne to purchase our Spanish ingredients.

Egg, Pickle and Salted Anchovy

You will need:

Baguette sliced into 16 x 1.5 cm pieces

8 Mini Gherkins

8 hard boiled Eggs, peeled

5-6 tbs whole egg mayonnaise

1 tbs baby capers in vinegar

Anchovy fillets (buy the best you can afford)

Salt and pepper to season

Wooden picks or skewers (to hold the Pintxos together)

How to prepare:

In a bowl roughly mash 4 of the hard boiled eggs. Add the capers, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to season and mix until well combined. Set aside.

Cut the remaining eggs into quarters and set aside

Slice the mini pickled gherkins length ways in half.

Cut the anchovies into 3 cm pieces.

Spread a teaspoon of the egg mixture on each baguette slice and top with the quartered egg, anchovy and pickle. Spike with the wooden pick to hold it in place.

Green Olives & White Anchovies

You will need:

Small jar pitted Green olives (preferably Spanish salted in brine)

White anchovies (available from most continental delicatessens)

Wooden picks

Alternate the anchovies and  the olives on a skewer.

Manchego, Jamon & Roasted Capsicum

You will need:

150 grams Manchego cheeese

100 grams of thinly sliced Jamon

Hand full of chives sliced into 6-7 cm pieces

1 roasted capsicum, cut into 1 cm strips

Wooden picks

How to prepare:

Slice the manchego cheese into thin triangle wedges. Add a slice of capsicum and piece of chive on top. Wrap in Jamon and pierce with a wooden pick.

Chorizo & Caramelised Onion

You will need:

Baguette sliced into 16 x 1.5 cm pieces

2 x chorizo sliced into 16 pieces

2 onions sliced

2 tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp brown sugar

1 tbs white wine vinegar

salt

1/2 roasted capsicum, cut into 1 cm strips

3 tbs of chopped chives

Wooden picks

How to prepare:

In a small pan, cook the chorizo on medium heat for approximately 1 minute on each side. Set aside.

In a fry pan heat the olive oil and add the sliced onions. Saute the onions gently on medium heat, stirring regularly. Cook for 10- 15 minutes or until the onion has softened and turned transparent. Add the vinegar, brown sugar and season lightly with salt. Toss for a few seconds, then remove from heat. Set aside.

Layer each slice of bread with the caramalised onions, followed by the chorizo and a slice of capsicum. Pierce with a wooden pick and finish with a sprinkle of chopped chives. Drizzle with a little olive oil.

Mild Pickled Peppers & Jamon Pickers

This recipe is super easy and a fresh/cold option to include in your selection of Pintxos. Simply spike the ingredients onto a skewer, intertwining and layering each ingredient as you go. Finish with a drizzle of Spanish olive oil.

10 x Spanish pickled green peppers (mild)

100 grams sliced Jamon

10 cherry tomatoes cut in half

10 mozzarella bocconcini, cut into half