Fideuà (Valencian Seafood Noodle Paella)

I already have my Easy Paella Recipe (recipe on the site) for the nights I want the classic rice version, but fideuà is what I make when I want that exact same seafood-and-saffron mood with a different personality entirely, built on short toasted noodles instead of rice. Legend has it a boat cook in Gandía, on the Valencian coast, invented it when he ran out of rice and substituted noodles instead, and whether or not that story is entirely true, I love that this whole dish exists because someone improvised under pressure and it turned out better than the original.

The noodles get toasted in oil before anything else touches the pan, which sounds like a small detail but it is the whole point: it gives the finished dish a nutty, almost caramelized backbone that plain boiled pasta could never have. Then it cooks down in a saffron-and-seafood broth exactly like paella does, letting the bottom layer crisp up into its own little prize, the noodle version of socarrat.

Serve it with a spoon of aioli stirred in at the table, the way they do along the Valencian coast, and pretend for twenty minutes that you are eating lunch at a beachside chiringuito instead of at your own kitchen table on a Tuesday.

Fideuà Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes · Cook time: 35 minutes · Total: 55 minutes · Servings: 4 · Calories: ~420 per serving

Ingredients

• 8 oz fideos noodles (short vermicelli, about 2 inches long), or regular vermicelli broken into 2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved
• 1/2 lb squid, cleaned and cut into rings
• 1/2 lb littleneck clams or mussels, scrubbed
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium tomatoes, grated (skins discarded), or 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Pinch of saffron threads, crumbled
• 4 cups seafood or fish stock, warmed (use shrimp shells to make a quick stock if you have time)
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• Lemon wedges, for serving
• Store-bought or homemade aioli, for serving

Instructions

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a wide, shallow paella pan or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the noodles and toast, stirring often, for 3 to 4 minutes, until golden brown all over. Remove and set aside.
2. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan. Season the shrimp and squid lightly with salt and sear for 1 to 2 minutes, just to color, then remove and set aside.
3. In the same pan, add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until softened.
4. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then stir in the grated tomato, smoked paprika, and saffron. Cook for 5 minutes, until the tomato has darkened and thickened.
5. Pour in the warm stock and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Scatter the toasted noodles evenly over the pan. Do not stir once they go in; like paella rice, fideuà noodles are left alone to absorb the liquid and develop a crisp bottom.
7. Nestle the clams into the noodles, cover loosely with foil, and simmer for 8 minutes.
8. Uncover, add the shrimp and squid back to the pan, and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, until the noodles have absorbed most of the liquid, the clams have opened, and the seafood is cooked through. Discard any clams that do not open.
9. Let rest for 3 minutes off heat. Serve straight from the pan with lemon wedges and a spoon of aioli stirred into each portion.

Recipe Notes

• Fideos noodles are sold in the Latin American or international aisle of most US grocery stores, since they are also used for Mexican sopa de fideo. If you cannot find them, break regular vermicelli or angel hair pasta into 2-inch pieces.
• Resist the urge to stir once the noodles go into the pan. Like paella, the magic here is in the crispy bottom layer that forms when you leave it alone.
• A true paella pan (wide and shallow) helps the liquid evaporate evenly, but a large, shallow skillet works fine if that is what you have.
• Feel free to swap in mussels, monkfish, or whatever seafood looks freshest that day; the technique matters more than the exact seafood you use.