James – who has worked with me for several years and without whom everything would have collapsed long ago – was telling me how his mother makes fideuà, the Valencian pasta dish that is cooked in the style of apaella. It uses tiny macaroni-style pasta instead of rice, similar to whatis sold here as stortini bucatini. Best of all, James divulged how the dish is left to form a delicious crust on the bottom of the pan.
Fideuà is one of those dishes best made in quantity, so it is perfect for the big sharing lunches we have beenmaking this week. We made it here the other day, first browning sliced squid and prawns in a wide, shallow paellera (if you don’t have one, you could use a shallow frying pan), then setting them aside to makea soft, sweet backbone to the dish with garlic, tomatoes, paprika and saffron cooked to a brilliant scarlet slush.
The pasta (you can use any thin, short variety) cooks for about 9minutes, but then – and this is the crucial bit – you must stop stirring it altogether, so that the pasta and tomatoey sauce form a crunchy crust on the base of the dish. James’s mother apparently gets very insistent about this part. The crust, known by various terms, including socarrat (from the verb socarrar – to singe), will only form if you have the ability to leave the dish alone to let it get on with things. No stirring or fiddling, prodding, poking or peeping, or the spell will be broken. It should stick to the pan, as it does in a correctly made paella: firm enough to be scraped offwith a spoon, but caught before it burns. Practice makes perfect.
If I’m honest, I like this dish much more than paella, and I’m sorry that it is not better known here. Iadore the way the pasta soaks up the juices from the seafood and tomato, as well as that crisp yet luscious crust that forms on the base. Though the no-stir rule does come at a price. Despite the stern warnings I was given aboutresisting the temptation to stir, fideuà is not a dish to leave unattended. This is not something to cook by the clock or even by the book. It is something you have to get to know by making it over and over again, by which time you will have learned to trust your pan, your ingredients and your skill. It is a dish about experience, intuition, appetite, and more than a little faith.
Fideua
If you can’t find the right pasta, usevery fine spaghetti broken into short lengths.
Serves 6
prawns 8, large, whole and uncooked
olive oil 2 tbsp
squid 2, cleaned and prepared
garlic 4 cloves
tomatoes 600g
smoked paprika 2 level tbsp
saffron a generous pinch (optional)
pasta stortini bucati 67 or similar, 500g
chicken or fish stock 1 litre
clams 250g
mussels 12
Peel the prawns and set aside. Put the shells into the stock and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and leave to simmer gently for 30 minutes. Place the pan over a moderate heat and pour in the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the prepared squid and cook quickly, letting it sizzle and colour lightly on both sides. They will take about 2 minutes on each side. As each piece is ready, remove from the pan and set aside on a warm plate under an upturned bowl. As you remove the squid from the pan, add the prawns.
When the prawns change colour from grey to pink and white – amatter of a minute or so – remove them and set aside with the squid. Peel the garlic and slice each clove very finely, then add them to the pan, which should still be set over a medium heat, together with alittle more oil if needed. Chop the tomatoes fairly finely and add themand all their juice to the pan, cooking for 2 minutes. Stir in the paprika, the saffron and the pasta.
Let the pasta toast for a minute, then pour over the stock, season with salt, bring to the boil then leave to cook for 8 minutes or until two-thirds of the liquid has evaporated. At this point do not stir again until a fine crust has formed on the base. Place the clams and mussels over thesurface then make a loose dome of kitchen foil over the pan and leave to steam for 2 or 3 minutes, until the mussels and clams have opened.
Cannellini, coppa and ricotta salad
Serves 4-6
cannellini beans 200g, dried
borlotti beans 200g, dried
flageolet beans 200g, dried
bay leaves 3
olive oil 150ml
rosemary 4 sprigs
cherry tomatoes 350g
parsley a small bunch
coppa 12 thin slices
ricotta 200g
Soak the beans overnight in deep, cold water. The next day, tip the beans into pans of cold water and bring to the boil. Remove the froth, add the bay leaves, then turn the heat down to a spirited simmer. Cook for 45 minutes, or until the beans are tender but not soft. After 30 minutes’ cooking, you can salt them, but not before, as it toughens them. Test regularly – beans of different ages and harvests take different times to cook. Once tender, drain them, discarding the water and bay leaves. Trickle over alittle olive oil, toss and set aside.
In a large, deep pan, warm the oil over a low heat with the whole rosemary sprigs, then add the cherry tomatoes, cover with a lid and leave to cook for 15 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft and just starting to burst.
Tip the beans into the tomatoes and fold, together with the olive oil. Roughly chop the leaves of the parsley and add to the beans. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl then tuck the slices of coppa in among the beans.
Break the ricotta into pieces, add to the salad and serve.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @NigelSlater
