Recipe: Melted Provolone
One of our favourite tapas bars in Málaga is a small, very characterful little establishment called La Tranca, where the walls are lined with album covers from the 1950s and 1960s - recordings of all the great Spanish names of the time. On a screen in the corner of the bar, old videos of the performers who recorded these albums play on a loop, and the charismatic staff sing along, knowing all the lyrics. This is a great spot to come for a lunchtime snack, a glass of Vermut, a beer or a glass of delicious wine.
La Tranca, Malaga
The tapas in this great little bar is also quite delicious, and one of our favourite little dishes is the Provoleta “Trancosa”, a small bowl of melted Provolone cheese (originating from Italy, but Málaga produces their own) mixed with tiny cubes of jamón and tomato and drizzled with a garlic and oil dressing. You dip little picos breadsticks into this scrumptiously tasty little dish, as you would with a cheese fondue.
After our large Sunday lunch yesterday, we didn’t quite feel like another large meal and, as luck would have it, we had a packet of Provolone cheese in the fridge, so we knocked up our own little version of the La Tranca recipe.
Tapas Melted Provolone
INGREDIENTS
Provolone Cheese, cubed for easy melting
Jamón Serrano, finely chopped
Half a peeled plum tomato, finely chopped
Garlic
Flaked Sea Salt
METHOD
Take a small oven-proof dish and rub the inside with a peeled clove of garlic.
Place the cubed Provolone cheese in the bowl and place in a hot oven (200C) to melt. You can also melt the cheese in a microwave oven. Add the chopped tomato and jamón, sprinkle with sea salt flakes and return to the oven for 5 minutes or so, until the tomato has just started to release its juices.
Serve immediately with breadsticks and dig out the bubbling cheese, jamón and tomato before the cheese starts to cool and you have to contend with long strings of rubbery Provolone.
