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Paula Monreal

, the woman who has conquered

with her simple and healthy recipes, is a restless spirit that cannot stop.

"They're going to give you the prize for being the first," Miguel, her husband, jokes.

At the moment, her trophy has come in the form of followers, more than 540,000 on

in just two years.

Something that she never imagined the day she got into the

.

She did it in August 2020, as a hobby, during the pandemic, although she always thought there was a market there.

"Since I had time, I took a

's degree in Digital Marketing. And when I finished it, I jumped in," she recalls.

His intention then was to get 10,000

, but his dishes "with a few

, the ones you usually have in the fridge," he says, hooked 50,000 in just a few months.

He still finds it hard to believe.

That emerged as one of his many

, but it seems to be the definitive one.

Paula studied

, although she soon learned that it was not her thing and she did not finish her degree.

In her place came all kinds of jobs: in a law

, in Telefónica, in

..., also a couple of her own

, with her sister, one for organizing events and another for sales. clothes digital.

"She had a

and we worked with

.

We were doing very well, we spent three years with it, but to move forward we needed to open a physical

, and I didn't see it clearly." He left it, but that experience is at the base of what

"I got rid of the clothes, part I donated, but I kept the runrún.

I was worth it."

We speak with her first thing in the morning, just before she leaves for the

to buy wild

, the ingredient in the

that she will prepare in just a few hours.

"I paint them with garlic, paprika and salt and I put them whole in the oven or in the fryer without oil for three minutes. Then I cover them with mayonnaise and cheese and the gratin. They go crazy," he advances us.

Today it's time to go

, but many times

comes simply by opening the

and seeing what it contains;

"The utilization recipes are fantastic, they are the art of cooking," she says.

And where does so much art come from?

"I always say that I am a

of all trades and

of none. Cooking has been my passion since I was a child, my first memory is

my grandmother's

But she never thought that she would dedicate herself professionally to

or that she would feed him so well.

cook by necessity

Paula Monreal,

the youngest of four siblings, soon got into the kitchen.

Necessity compels: she was born in

, but she grew up in a small town in

and from Monday to Friday she stayed in the city with her brothers to

.

"We would arrive on Sunday loaded with my mother's

, but even so it was inevitable that we would have to

a minimum. When I was ten or eleven years old, I was already making my own food," she recalls.

"I have it inside, I'm

. I see a restaurant's plate and I'm able to

it, as long as we're not talking about Michelin stars... Don't make me spherify," she jokes with a laugh.

Now it has found its business

in

everyday

-free and

-free .

And not by chance;

she only cooks, she says, what she can eat.

"Everything I make I eat and I'm

. I've always led a very

life , with a lot of sport, and although I've never had any serious illness, virus that passed, virus that I caught. So they did some genetic tests, in Holland, to see why. They concluded that I had a severe allergy to gluten. Since I don't take it, my

It has been reinforced, no colds or anything.

I have blind faith in the influence of diet because I have experienced it myself."

Of flan and torreznos

Nobody is bitter about a

, and she, who dies for a

- "I always ask for it in all restaurants, whatever it is" -, neither.

That is why she sweetens her dishes in a natural way, using

such as dates.

"If you mash it with water you get a great sweetener. I can't stand the taste of

, if the fruit isn't enough I add

, I don't like any other sweetener."

Is it the only 'sin' of hers?

"Nah, I'm crazy about

, but I only have them occasionally."

cooking

.

"I'm better at it. If there's one thing that resists me, it's

; there's no way, when I start making them they end up being

."

And among its top ingredients,

.

"My star recipe is a

steak au gratin. It's a

, brutal, even those who hate this cabbage love it."

To confess, what is it that I will never find in your kitchen, apart from gluten and refined sugar?

"

I don't understand why it is used for

when

makes you die of richness. Neither processed foods nor

." With one exception, the

. "My husband loves them, but I'm grossed out by them."

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A job with hours

Where does your

come from when creating recipes?

"Everything. I spend the whole day looking at recipes, and my

in-law 's recipes

."

Among her sources, other gastronomy

, some of them friends: @tasty_hunting ("I love her Latin influence"), Yolanda, from @lacadenasaludable and @loletabyloleta, her reference in confectionery.

Also the classic cookbooks.

"I just discovered one that I love,

by Ignacio Talavera and Carlos Cortés Jorreto.

It is from 1998, it still has the price in pesetas.

It includes a lot of curry dishes, something that seems recent to us, but clearly is not."

cooking

is not new either, but the novelty is that thanks to Instagram it has become

.

And a good source of

.

"I have found my place. I am

in the kitchen. I like to get up thinking about the recipe that I am going to make and publish. It is my

, and you cannot imagine the number of hours I can do, at least eight or nine a day, although Some days I am answering

at eleven at night. Someone will think that this is not work, but they are wrong. "

And doesn't the

weigh now that he is the center of attention?

"A lot. Going up so much is not normal. Sometimes I get a lump in my throat and it makes me

.

At the same time I believe, and not, in myself.

The

is noticeable, everything is looked at with a magnifying glass."

Paula sensed that it was possible to live well from entering the kitchen and she has confirmed it.

She doesn't know how far her

will go , but she does know where she would like it to take her.

"I see myself in the

, near Madrid, with my

, two small goats, my dogs, torn pants and riding a bike. It's what makes me happy. I'm already looking for a house."

And since he can't stop, while he finds it, he has his own

his hands , with the Planeta publishing house, of which he has already written 55 recipes.

To whet your appetite, Paula leaves us what she is going to cook this morning, when she finishes the interview and returns from the market.

With the three esses: healthy, tasty and simple.

"I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it," she concludes.

His recipe: green asparagus au gratin

"It is a super simple recipe that will only take you 10 minutes. They are very tasty and, best of all, with very few ingredients", explains Paula.

Ingredients:

• Thin green asparagus

• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika

• 3 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 1 Garlic

• Salt

• 2 tablespoons homemade mayonnaise

• cheese to gratin

Elaboration:

In a bowl, put the crushed garlic, paprika and olive oil, mix until all the ingredients are well integrated.

We cut the hardest part of the asparagus and spread it on a tray or in the castle of the air fryer with baking paper.

Paint the asparagus with the garlic, paprika and olive oil.

We take them to the air fryer for 3 minutes at 175 degrees.

If you make them in the oven, put them for 10 minutes at 180 degrees.

Remove from air fryer or oven.

We put the mayonnaise in the middle and the gratin cheese on top.

Put it back in the air fryer for 3 minutes at 175 degrees.

In the oven it will be 5 minutes at 200 degrees.

The result is asparagus with a spectacular flavor and a finger-licking gratin.

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