ZARZUELA DE MARISCOS

Zarzuela de mariscos -

a mixed seafood soup with Squid, Mussels, Clams and Prawns

The word Zarzuela is Spanish for a particular kind of light or comic opera which includes operatic sequences, popular songs and dance - a light hearted mixture.  It is also the name given to a composite Spanish fish stew containing a mixture of different seafood ingredients.

It can be made with a variety of different fishes such as bream, hake, monkfish, seabass or with shellfish or a mixture of both.  On this occasion we decided to make one without fish using squid, mussels, clams and prawns.

It's comparator in France would be bouillabaisse.  It is also be similar to cioppino - a dish originating in San Francisco from the American-Italian community but owing its origins to various regional seafood dishes from Italy.

Zarzuela is, however, a more rustic dish than bouillabaise or cioppino - heavier and richer - due to the addition of serrano ham (or, in some recipes, chorizo) and ground almonds to thicken and flavour the sauce.

The quantities given here are for two very generous portions but could feed three as a main course or provide four large or six smaller starters.

INGREDIENTS

1 kg Mussels

500g Clams - eg Almejas, Vongole, Berberechos (cockles)

6 raw King Prawns or similar

1 squid

half cup blanched almonds

100g Serrano Ham

500 ml stock (fish, chicken or vegetable)

2 bay leaves

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic

1 red pepper

1 dessertspoon chopped rosemary

1 tsp dried thyme or 1 sprig fresh thyme

4 large ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped (or 1 can chopped tomatoes)

1 lemon

Chopped parsley

1 dessertspoon Sweet Paprika/pimentón dulce*

1 red chilli*

pinch saffron

1 glass dry white wine, sherry or vermouth

Olive oil

for the stock

Heads and shell of prawns

1 small onion

2 sticks of celery chopped

1 clove garlic

1 bay leaf

METHOD

Peel the prawns, reserving the heads and shells for stock. Remove the black intestinal track and set aside the prepared prawns.

For the stock, gently soften a small chopped onion in a little olive oil, add chopped garlic, chopped celery, add 750mls water or chicken or vegetable stock and a bay leaf, bring to the boil and gently simmer for 20-30 mins than strain and set aside.

Clean the squid, or ask your fishmonger to do it, but it is comparatively easy to do yourself. Pull the head and it should come away with all the intestines. Remove the plastic-like quill from inside the tube. Cut the tentacles from the head just above the eyes and remove the hard beak.  You can then separate the tentacles into 4 pieces and set aside.

SQUID TENTACLES 

 Rinse the squid tube in running water.........

SQUID CLEANED

 ......then remove the skin. Just rub the tube and the skin will pull away easily and can be discarded.

REMOVE SKIN FROM SQUID

The wings can then be pulled off easily.  They can be chopped or sliced and the tube can be cut into rings.  Dust the squid rings, tentacles and wings with flour that has been seasoned with black pepper and half teaspoon of cayenne pepper.  Shake off excess flour and gently fry for a few minutes and set aside.

FRY SQUID

Rinse the mussels and clams in running water and debeard the mussels. Throw away any that do not close or have broken shells.

Blend the almonds in a blender/coffee grinder to a granular texture like breadcrumbs. If you blend them too fine they will be very greasy.

Add the saffron to the white wine.  (Most recipes I have seen add saffron, so I did, but the broth is so powerful that I am sure no one would notice its absence if you omitted it!)

Finely chop or mince the onion and fry gently to soften without browning in a large pan with a lid or casserole a dish.  Add the chopped garlic and then the chopped serrano ham and fry gently for a few minutes. 

Add the chopped red pepper and chopped red chilli and continue cooking gently until the pepper has softened.

CHOP PEPPERS

Add the prepared prawns.....

PRAWNS - SHELL REMOVED

 ....and continue frying gently for two minutes, turning the prawns until they colour a little.

Add the white wine infused with saffron and the bay leaf, thyme & chopped rosemary leaves and bring to the boil.  Add the tomatoes and when the mixture reaches boiling, add the mussels and clams. 

MUSSELS AND BERBERECHO CLEANED

Turn down the heat, place a lid on top and simmer gently until the mussels and clams have opened.

ADD LID AND BOIL GENTLY

 When the mussels and clams have opened, remove the lid, remove any mussels or clams that have not opened, scatter chopped parsley over the stew and season with black pepper and the juice of the lemon.....

SCATTER WITH CHOPPED PARSLEY

 ........and serve with fresh crusty bread.

SERVED

Yum!  

*If you want more "heat" add extra chilli during cooking or use hot paprika (pimentón picante) as well as or instead of  pimentón dulce.

John Austin

Santa Pola, Spain - March 2019

SEAFOOD PASTA

Seafood Pasta -

with clams, squid and prawns 

Recently, I was watching Saturday Kitchen on TV and saw Jamie Oliver's Five Ingredients Recipe for a spicy pasta dish with 'nduja and clams.  Later that week our local fishmonger had a supply of fresh palourdes.

I don't know why a Sussex fishmonger uses the French name rather than call them clams (carpet shell clams to be precise). Jamie uses the Italian, vongole.  In Spain we know them as almejas.

'Nduja seems to be the trendy new ingredient and seen on a number of bar menus recently. Its a soft, spreadable spicy italian sausage flavoured with paprika.  I suppose the Spanish equivalent is sobrasada, a sort of spreadable chorizo.  I had neither, but I find ordinary chorizo picante excellent with seafood so used this instead.  I am a great fan of clams but Sylvia prefers prawns, so with inspiration from Jamie, I put together my own mixed seafood dish with clams, squid and prawns.

Ingredients   - serves two

·                     150 g fresh pasta* - linguine, tagliatelle or spaghetti

·                     500 g clams  (palourdes/almejas/vongole or any other clams that might be available, such as cockles)

·                     25 g chorizo picante

·                     1 medium hot red chilli

·                     Two small squid

·                     200 g raw prawns

·                     small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley

·                     100 ml dry white or rosé wine (or dry Fino sherry or dry vermouth)

*if using dried pasta, the cooking times below will need to be adjusted and the pasta started sooner.

Method:

If you are not using the clams immediately, take them out of any plastic bag or container they were bought in and keep in the refrigerator in a bowl or colander with a wet towel on top or loosely wrapped in damp newspaper in the salad drawer of your fridge until needed.  Some say they can be kept for a day or so but I wouldn’t  leave them for more than a few hours. Do not leave them in a bowl of water or ice as they will probably die.  When needed, rinse thoroughly under running water.  If they have been bought from a supermarket or fishmonger they will almost certainly have been purged but leaving them in running water in the sink for up to 30 minutes just before you cook them will probably remove any remaining sand or grit.  (Some recipes suggest adding oatmeal to the water for the purging process but there seems to be no evidence that this is necessary or effective). Inspect the clams and reject any which have broken shells and any that are open or not tightly closed and won’t close when tapped.

I used three pans - a frying pan, a sauté or frying pan with a tight fitting lid and a large saucepan.

In each frying pan, gently soften half a chopped small onion in a little olive oil over a low heat, then add 1 clove of chopped garlic to each, continue frying gently until softened.   Set aside the sauté pan.

Finely chop the chorizo, and slice the red chilli and add these to the frying pan and fry gently to extract the oil from the chorizo.  Add the squid, cut into rings plus the tentacles and chopped wings and fry on high heat, stirring for 2 minutes.  Turn down the heat, add the prawns and fry on a gentle heat till they are just turning pink and partly cooked. Turn off the heat and set aside.  Cook the pasta in boiling water in a large saucepan according to the instructions – usually about 4 minutes.

In the meantime, add half of the parsley, chopped, including the chopped stalks, to the sauté pan, add a small glass of dry white or rosé wine (or dry Fino sherry or dry vermouth) and bring to the boil.  Add the washed clams, put on the lid, and cook for 3 minutes, shaking the pan until the clams have opened.  Take off the heat, inspect the clams and remove any that have not opened.  

Return to the heat, add the prawn/squid/chorizo mixture from the frying pan, stir and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the drained cooked pasta and stir to ensure the pasta is well coated with the cooking liquid.  If there is insufficient juice, add a small quantity of the pasta cooking liquid.  Season with freshly ground black pepper and the juice of half a lemon, drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining chopped parsley and serve.

The Italians would describe this seafood pasta as blanco. With the addition of tomato at the cooking stage – some halved cherry tomatoes and a little passata – it would be seafood pasta rosso.   If you are adding tomatoes, use some basil in place of or in addition to the parsley.

John Austin

Hove, May 2018

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