Fideos with Clams

[Adam Balic]

Fideos with Clams

This recipe is from Pasta Around the Mediterraneanin the eCGI

you visit the Mediterranean coast of Spain, in addition to the bland mass-produced paella, you will sometimes see the bland rice replaced with bland industrial noodles. This is sad as these noodles are “Fideos” and they are a very interesting pasta indeed. A pasta dish known as “Fidawsh” is known from medieval Muslim “Spain”. From this origin we get a class of pasta known as “Fideos” in Spain or “Fidelanza/Fedelini” in Italy. These pasta are distinguished by being cooked in their sauce. The following pasta is adapted from Colman Andrews’ excellent Catalan Cuisine: Europe's Last Great Culinary Secret

• Olive oil for frying onions and pasta
  
• 1 large onion finely chopped
  
• 400 g of dry Fideos pasta or durum wheat vermicelli broken into 3 cm lengths (these must not contain egg)
  
• 1 (400g) can of chopped and peeled tomatoes (or equivalent of skinned, seeded and chopped fresh tomatoes)
  
• 250 ml of dry white wine
  
• 6 saffron threads, lightly crushed
  
• 2 T of finely chopped parsley
  
• 500 g of cleaned clams (smaller and sweeter types are best)
  

For allioli/aioli/garlic mayonnaise

• 3 large cloves of garlic, peeled
  
• 1 egg yolk
  
• 250 ml good quality olive oil
  
• salt and pepper
  

1. Fry onion gently in a shallow casserole that is designed for stove-top use (or if you have an earthenware cassola, now is the perfect time to use it) until translucent.

2. In a separate pan, very gently fry pasta in a small amount of olive oil, until they turn opaque and a light tan colour. Stir constantly as they can burn if not carefully watched.

3. Add tomato, wine and saffron threads to the onion and bring to boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook at a simmer for 20-30 minutes (this reduces the liquid and removes the ‘canned’ taste from the tomatoes. Taste at this point and correct seasoning. It will need salt and pepper and possibly a pinch of sugar, depending on the quality of the tomatoes.

4. During this time make an allioli/aioli/garlic mayonnaise from the garlic, salt and olive oil (consult your favourite recipe).

5. Add pasta and parsley to sauce and continue to simmer until pasta softens and absorbs the sauce.

6. Add washed clams to pasta and sauce. Cook until clams have opened. Discard any that are closed.

7. At this point the pasta should be soft and the dish should be a loose stew or a thick soup in consistency. Place a few tablespoons of the allioli in the centre of the dish and partially stir into sauce.

8. Serve from dish.

Keywords: Pasta, eGCI

( RG902 )