Manchego Cheese with Quince Paste is a simple tapa that’s a bit out of the ordinary. Simply cut into triangles you can make an impressive presentation for any gathering.

In Spanish cuisine tapas refer to a variety of appetizers or snacks, sometimes called “the little dishes of Spain.”

Tapas can be simple, like this cheese and quince combination, or more complex including sauces and even pastry. If you like appetizers you need to learn more about tapas!

Manchego Cheese

Manchego cheese is a sharp, hard sheeps’ milk cheese. Once difficult to find it can now quite easily be found at deli counters and specialty cheese shops. If you really can’t find Manchego substitute a well-aged Italian Asiago, Pecorino or even a sharp, white English cheddar.

Quince Paste vs Quince Jam

In Spanish quince paste is called membrillo or dulce de membrillo. It’s a sweet, thick, jelly made from the pulp of the quince fruit. It is sold in round or rectangular-shaped plastic tubs and is firm enough to be sliced. I most often see quince paste in shops around the Christmas holidays.

Look for quince paste in the deli section of a well stocked grocery store or a specialty food shop. In Calgary I sometimes find it at the Cookbook Company.

What is a substitute for quince paste?

If you can’t quince paste look for quince jam or fig jam. Rather than slicing the paste carefully spread the jam on the cheese triangles and serve it the same way.

Tips For Saving Recipes

For custom eaters planning every aspect of food is a way of life. Learning new ideas to save and organize is always worth the effort in the long run. Here are two easy ideas.

Good Old-Fashioned Lists

Make a list, even if you’re not a list maker. Whether we’re talking Easy Appetizers or more specifically My Favourite Tapas, I like to make these kind of lists on a recipe card. Start small with your top three and keep adding, year after year.

Aim for ten, if you have more than that subdivide and make a new list. Here’s my tapas list:

• Manchego Cheese with Quince Paste
• Banderillas, perfect for a DIY crowd
• Chorizo Stuffed Bacon-Wrapped Dates
• Meatballs in Almond Sauce served on toothpicks
• Tuna Rice Salad that’s more than the sum of it’s parts!
• Potato Chorizo Frittata served appetizer style for any crowd

Recipe Roundups

Recipe roundups are the modern way for food bloggers to share their own recipes or a unique collection from bloggers around the web. My friend Shirley, over at gfe – Gluten Free Easily, has recipe roundups like you’ve never seen! Visit her when you want to browse and find new gluten free bloggers you’ve never heard of.

My roundups are how I put together my favourite recipes and I have one for Holiday Appetizers. There are beautiful platters for holiday parties, stunning dips that stand out on any buffet table, soup shooters for fancy dinners and tapas from simple to ‘worth the effort’.

Recipe Cards

You’re unique so you really need to make your own recipe collections. Name them exactly the way you think, that will make them easier to find. Lastly, keep them in an easy to find place. I’ve got a small box of old recipe cards, most of them I haven’t looked at in years. Yet inside that box is an envelope with a Christmas photo taped to the front.

Every year I pull out that box and am reminded of recipes I’d love to make. Finally, I quit thinking I should organize this better. This system works perfectly for me.

Let me know in the comments below if you made this simple tapa or found a tip for organizing your recipe.

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Yes, I need 29 Tips For Cooking with Gluten Free Flour.

Yes, I need 29 Tips For Cooking with Gluten Free Flour.

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More Recipes – Holiday Appetizers

• Smoked Salmon Pate
• Vegetable and Dip Christmas Tree
• Warm Cranberry Dip
• Bocconcini Cherry Tomato Wreath
• Coconut Shrimp