Rose's New Year Shop Watch: La Espanola Olive Oil Spray
La Espanola Olive Oil Spray
Tesco
What?
Olive Oil spray
Why?
Easy for me to spray
Spray not pour, and don’t even think about a glug – that is my advice to you this month. Because using an olive oil spray in your cooking instead of a glug of oil will cut the calories in half without you even noticing it. The advice is of course for those of you who are looking to cut back a bit this month after the excesses of Christmas.
Personally, I never feel January is the time for salads – it is far too cold for them to be appealing. I would rather look to reduce the carbs and turn to food simply cooked. That means three bits of kitchen kit: the grill pan, the non-stick frying pan and the baking tray with just a spray of oil. The grill pan is great for meat – steak, pork or lamb chops – and they taste more like they have been cooked on the Weber. But I especially like Mediterranean vegetables cooked this way – aubergine slices, courgettes and bright red peppers – all with a criss-cross barbecue pattern and tasting smoky. Just spray the vegetables before and cook them on the searing heat of the grill pan.
Then get out the non-stick frying pan, and think about switching to fish this month. Maybe some sea bass fillets - give the pan a quick spray then cook some sea bass fillets skin side down first to go crispy, then flip over to the flesh side for a further minute. Do the same with any fish fillets – sea bream, plaice, salmon, cod. And if you do stray from your good intentions, at least cook your sausages with just a spray of oil!
Many of your tray bakes, especially vegetable ones, can be made with just a spray of oil – good for Veganuary. Cut some root vegetables, put them in a bowl with some garlic and fresh herbs, give a couple of squirts of oil and mix with your hands. Tip the lot onto a baking tray and roast until tender. Or cook butternut squash this way. Then the new vogue for roasted cauliflower is equally successful using the spray with maybe a teaspoon of harissa or try Delia’s recipe (with a couple of squirts rather than tablespoons of oil). And a spray comes in handy whenever you need to oil a baking tray, or grease a quiche dish, or the bottom of the roasting tin.
And whilst it can’t take over completely in your cooking – softening chopped onion to start off a casserole or making a soffrito does need more of a glug – the spray can is an indispensable tool in the kitchen all year round. But you don’t want any old frying oil for all of this, but a good quality olive oil. The spray I am using is from a Spanish company La Espanola. They are Spain’s oldest olive oil company, and make a range of olive oils: extra virgin; pure olive oil; organic olive oil; light olive oil; extra virgin gourmet; and a truffle oil. The company has a commitment to sustainability from using non-intensive methods of harvesting to 100% recyclable packaging.
But I am recommending the handy olive oil spray format, which is made to the highest quality from Spanish olives, combining refined olive oils and virgin olive oils. Every time you use it, it gives a consistent and measured spray at less than 4 calories, and each bottle should give you 800 sprays. And the cap (which I know looks a bit like those on a shaving mousse) is specially designed to have a triple action – spray, stream and drip which is pressure sensitive. How clever. Three ways to spray (and not pour).
Conclusion:
Spray finish
Product Details:
La Espanola Olive Oil Spray
200ml
£2.00
Contact:
tesco.com
Price and availability as at 31st December 2021