Fideuà

Ingredients

Noodles

• 400 gfideo noodles

Seafood

• 400 gmonkfish, in chunks
• 300 gprawns
• 200 gsquid, sliced
• 300 gmussels

Base

• 1.5 litresfish stock
• 4 tbspolive oil
• 1onion, chopped
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 2tomatoes, grated
• 1 tbspsweet paprika
• a large pinch of saffron
• salt

Picada

• 2 clovesgarlic
• a handful of parsley
• 20 gtoasted almonds
• a splash of olive oil

To serve

• alioli
• lemon

Directions

1. Toast the dry noodles in a dry pan or in the oven until golden brown before you do anything else.
2. Toasting is what separates fideuà from a pan of pasta. It gives a nutty depth and keeps the noodles separate rather than letting them collapse into a mass.
3. Make a stock from the prawn heads and fish bones if you can, and keep it hot on the next burner.
4. Heat the olive oil in a wide shallow pan and fry the squid for 2 minutes, then lift it out.
5. Soften the onion and garlic, add the grated tomato and cook it down for 10 minutes into a sofrito.
6. Add the paprika off the heat so it does not burn, then the saffron crumbled between your fingers.
7. Add the toasted noodles and stir them through the sofrito until coated.
8. Pour in the hot stock, roughly two and a half times the volume of the noodles, and spread everything out evenly across the pan.
9. Now do not stir again. Exactly as with paella, fideuà is left alone so the base can catch and caramelise, and stirring turns it into a pasta stew.
10. Simmer for 8 minutes, then lay the monkfish, prawns and mussels on top and cook for 5 minutes more.
11. Pound the picada ingredients together and dot it over the surface for the final 2 minutes.
12. The noodles should finish standing on end with their tips upward, which is the sign of a properly made fideuà.
13. Rest it for 5 minutes off the heat, then serve straight from the pan with alioli and lemon.
14. It was invented aboard a fishing boat off Gandia in the 1930s, when a cook swapped noodles for rice to leave the skipper less to eat.

Technique

• A wide shallow pan matters as much as it does for paella. Depth gives you a stew rather than a crust.
• Fideos number 2 or 4 are the usual grades. Thicker ones take longer and do not stand up.
• Alioli on the side is standard rather than optional, and it is what most people come for.

Substitutions

• Broken angel hair pasta or vermicelli, toasted the same way.
• Any firm white fish in place of monkfish.

Variations

• Fideuà negra, made with squid ink.
• With rabbit and beans, in the inland manner.
• Finished under a hot grill to crisp the noodle tips.

History

Invented aboard a fishing boat off Gandia, Valencia, in the 1930s when a cook swapped noodles for rice to leave the skipper less to eat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fideuà?

Fideuà is a main from Spain: paella-like dish of short noodles cooked in fish stock with seafood. Invented aboard a fishing boat off Gandia, Valencia, in the 1930s when a cook swapped noodles for rice to leave the skipper less to eat.

How long does Fideuà take to make?

Fideuà takes 30 min of preparation and 35 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Fideuà?

Yes, within limits. Broken angel hair pasta or vermicelli, toasted the same way. Any firm white fish in place of monkfish.

What is the most important thing to get right in Fideuà?

Toasting is what separates fideuà from a pan of pasta. It gives a nutty depth and keeps the noodles separate rather than letting them collapse into a mass.