I became fascinated by fideuà (pron. fid-ay-wah), which is just like a seafood paella but with short noodles instead of rice, after a trip to the Costa Brava area in Spain.
When I returned to Australia, I just had to recreate this incredibly delicious cuisine as best I could. I discovered the angel hair short pasta in the supermarket and it works perfectly, as it’s pretty difficult to get the fideos noodles here (but, great if you can!). The real secret, though, is the homemade seafood stock which ramps up the flavour like you wouldn’t believe!
My whole family loves fideuà even more than paella, dare I say?! Let me know if you do, too.
WINE PAIRING: This Spanish dish, similar to paella, pairs beautifully with crisp white wines, dry rosés and light red wines. Many excellent Australian wines in these styles will complement the dish's rich, briny flavours. Consider a dry riesling, pinot gris/grigio, vermentino or fiano. Or perhaps a lightly oaked chardonnay, a pinot noir, grenache or bobal.
Fideuà (like A Paella, but Not)
6
servings30
minutes40
minutesYou’ll adore this Spanish jewel.
I have now made fideuà many times for friends and family, even making a vegetarian version for my nephew, as well as a basic chicken, chorizo and prawn one. Heading away from seafood certainly isn’t authentic, but it was also delicious nonetheless.
Stop your screen from snoozing (zzz)
Ingredients
1/3 cup (60ml) 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
400 g 14 oz fideos (size 0, or San Remo Angel Hair Short Pasta)
12 3/7 oz giant prawns (in the shell, or shelled and deveined)
1 1 brown onion, finely chopped
230 g 8 oz fresh or thawed frozen squid, cleaned and chopped into 2cm pieces
1 1 red capsicum, finely chopped
4 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes or grated fresh tomato
2 tsp 2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp 1 tsp salt
Large pinch Large pinch saffron threads
1 cup 1 cup (250ml) dry white wine (such as Brokenwood Semillon)
3 1/3 cups 3 1/3 cup (830ml) good-quality fish or seafood stock (homemade is best)
230 g 8 oz mussels, debearded and scrubbed well (see tip)
3 tbs 3 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve
Garlic aioli, to serve
Method
- Heat 1 tbs oil in a large paella pan or heavy-based frying pan set over medium heat on a gas stovetop or barbecue plate. Add pasta and stir with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes or until evenly toasted and quite golden. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Increase pan heat to medium-high and add 1 tbs of the remaining oil. Add prawns in a single layer and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side or until seared. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- To make the sofrito, add remaining oil to the pan. When the oil is hot, add onion and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add squid and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until the onion and squid are a deep golden brown.
- Season the onion mixture and then add capsicum and garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring, until the capsicum and garlic begin to brown. Add tomato, paprika, salt and saffron. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes, or until the tomato has reduced slightly.
- Pour wine into the pan and reduce slightly for 1 minute. Stir in the toasted pasta. Pour in fish stock and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low. Nestle mussels into the pasta mixture and arrange the prawns (whole and/or peeled) around the mussels. Cook, without stirring, for about 10-15 minutes or until the pasta has absorbed almost all of the broth. There should be almost no bubbling.
- Remove pan from the heat and sit, uncovered, for 1 minute. Discard any mussels that haven’t opened. Garnish the fideuá with parsley and serve immediately with lemon wedges and aioli alongside.
Notes
- To clean and debeard the mussels, rinse the closed mussels under cold running water. Use a scourer to scrub the shells to remove any stubborn grit.
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