Pasta Paella (Fideuà) - The FoodOlic recipes (2024)

Pasta Paella, called Fideuà, is a Spanish dish similar to paella but made of thin noodles instead of rice. The pasta is fried, then soaked in stock with monkfish, clams, veggies and a touch of saffron.

The Mediterranean coast of Spain has a gastronomy of their own, and one of its most distinctive dishes is the Pasta Paella (Fideuà). It’s similar to seafood paellabut made with a noodle called Fideus. Usually served in a paella pan, this dish is more complicated than a standard paella! A professional Fideuà has the pasta straight up, like a porcupine presentation. To make this effect happen is an art!

This version is a simplified home version. However, I’ll tell you how to nail a professional-looking Fideuà in the post. Let’s dive deep into this Mediterranean dish.

General View

The small 1 cm long and thin piece of noodleis similar to the ones we put in a simple chicken broth soup. But the technique used is by far different. First, Fideuà isnever “al dente,” nor are the noodlescovered with a sauce but the opposite,the noodles soak up the stock.So this is the first significant difference.

This way, you can finish the dish in the oven, and if you’ve done it right,magic will happen in this step! The Fideus will slowly risevertically and get grilled on the top end, an almost magical phenomenon. For this to happen, you need a large paella pan to sauté your noodles in olive oil and add a fine layer of Fideus to let them stand.

For this particular recipe, I broke the pro rule and used a thick bottom pan and too much Fideus for the pan size… so the Fideus couldn’t rise vertically, but this is the homemade ‘easy’ version and still taste fantastic!

If you don’t find the “Fideus noodles,” you can use vermicelli and break them, or the Italians have a similar one called:Fedelini.

Frying the Fideus

You saw that right; the first step is to fry the Fideus noodles. This step is essential for the Fideus to keep a “softlycrisp” texture or to prevent it from getting soggy. Important note about the frying, cook themat medium-low heat to prevent the noodles from getting burned… any black noodle pieces are simply a disaster for this dish. Sokeep an eye on your frying noodles and bring them to a nice golden-light brown colour while gently moving them.

The Sofregit (the Fried Paste)

A thick red paste from aslow-cooked onion, garlic and tomato in olive oil until all the water is out of the veggies and forms a kind of red, flavorful paste. This is another essential element in Catalan cuisine, so many recipes start this way. It’s a tad long but worth it in the end. Not only doesit give flavour but colour to a dish. In Spain, they are still debating if a paella should or shouldn’t start by making a Sofregit.

The Catalans and Valencians, North-East of Spain, are big fans of that flavorful paste for their paellas. Elsewhere in Spain, it’s not always well receivedto start a paella this way. As for the Fideuà, it’s necessary to create the dish with a nicely done Sofregit. It’s a simple technique which takes a few extra minutes.

Variations

For this Fideuà, we’ll use monkfish and clams. If you live somewhere where it’s challengingto find monkfish, substitute itwith sea bass, snapper, halibut or scallops. As for the clams, rinse them well before adding them to the dish. You could easily substitute them with mussels. Those little shells willopen up and give the dish this last fresh sea taste. Just like with paella, the seafood in there is up to your taste.

The Optional Pro Technique

The technique isn’t complicated, follow the instructions, but if you want to make the noodles rise straight up, it’s a tad more complicated. You’ll need a large paella pan of 40cm in diameter for this amount of pasta to rise. Also, afterthe final step in the oven, it’s essential to cover the complete paella with a clean towel. Let it rest for 5 minutes before getting the rising effect. I have to work on this technique; I’ve made this magic happen in culinary school just once, which was not the easiest. But if you nail it once, it’s a fantastic-looking dish!

To Serve

This dish is usually served with an aïoli sauce, a garlicky mayonnaise.

Other Spanish Recipes

• PAN CON TOMATE – PA AMB TOMAQUET
• SANGRIA ESPAÑOLA
• VEGETARIAN PAELLA