Spanish Pasta

Fideuà
We've found that Kara really enjoys Spanish food, so I've been searching for recipes and am having fun cooking dishes that are new to me and classic to Spain. This is fideuà, or Spanish-Style Toasted Pasta with Shrimp and Mussels. I've heard similar dishes called "fideo" when Mexican (as seen on Beat Bobby Flay), and there are many other variations on the word. What they all have in common is Latin flavors... and pasta.

The story goes that a Spanish cook who worked on a ship tried substituting pasta for rice when making paella because the captain liked rice so much he gobbled it up before the rest of the crew got their portions. The trick worked and the dish ended up being so tasty to everyone else, he recreated it at various ports over the years and it became a classic dish.

It is essentially paella. But instead of rice, thin spaghetti is used, carefully broken into 1" lengths in a dishtowel. The pasta is toasted in a dry pan (with bit of Spanish olive oil) to recreate the sensation of socorrat, the treasured crusty rice at the bottom of a properly made paella. It's flavored with the aromatic base called sofrito—onions, tomatoes, and olive oil, and other varying ingredients. Then I threw in some beautiful large shrimp and a handful of mussels. The flavor is rounded out by smoked paprika, which I've used for years and love, but wow, it requires a deft hand. Try it if you haven't before.

The above pre-plating photo doesn't include the lovely parsley garnish and lemon wedges which should be served alongside, but it looks great in the pan. It was delicious!