Spanish · Main · Medium
Fideua
Valencia's noodle paella. Toasted short pasta cooked in rich seafood stock with shrimp, mussels and squid. All the drama of paella, none of the rice.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Fideua, in 5 ideas
- Toasting the noodles first is non-negotiable, it gives fideua its signature nutty depth.
- Use hot stock so the cooking never stalls, cold liquid ruins the timing.
- Do not stir after adding the stock, you want a light crust on the bottom like paella.
- Broken angel hair or thin spaghetti works fine if you cannot find fideos.
- A spoonful of garlic alioli on top is the traditional finish, do not skip it.
What you need
Ingredients
- 300g fideos (short thin pasta)
- 12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 12 mussels, scrubbed
- 200g squid rings
- 1 liter fish stock
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tomatoes, grated
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 pinch saffron threads
- 80ml olive oil
- Fresh parsley and lemon wedges, to serve
How to make it
Directions
- Heat the olive oil in a wide paella pan over medium heat and toast the fideos, stirring, until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- In the same pan, cook the onion until soft, then add garlic, grated tomato and smoked paprika. Cook until the mixture darkens, about 5 minutes.
- Return the toasted noodles to the pan and stir to coat in the sofrito.
- Pour in the hot fish stock with the saffron and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 8 minutes without stirring.
- Nestle the squid, shrimp and mussels into the noodles. Cook 6 to 8 more minutes until the seafood is done and the liquid is absorbed.
- Rest 5 minutes off the heat, scatter with parsley and serve with lemon wedges and alioli.
Money saver. Buy the seafood on the day it goes on sale and freeze it; fideua is forgiving and frozen-thawed shrimp works great here.