Rossejat de Fideus

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 liters of water
• 1 kg fish (heads/bones/meat)
• 1 stalk(s) leek
• 1 turnip(s), yellow
• 1 onion(s)
• 2 stalk(s) Celery
• 2 large tomatoes, finely diced or grated
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
• olive oil
• 400 g pasta No. 2, or soup/vermicelli, spaghettini, 2 cm long pieces
• Salt
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (more if desired)
• Salt
• 1 egg yolk
• Extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes

Catalan dish with golden-blond, crispy fried pasta (fideus) and allioli. It’s *not* fideuà!

Rossejat de Fideus should not be confused with Fideuà. The latter is essentially a pasta-based paella. In Rossejat de Fideus, raw pasta (fideus) is glazed/fried in oil until golden brown, or rossejat. Then it is cooked in a fish or seafood broth. Homemade fish broth tastes best. Roughly chop the leek, yellow beetroot, onion, and celery. Bring the water with the fish and vegetables to a boil and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Then strain and keep the broth hot. Prepare the finely diced tomatoes, chopped garlic, and finely chopped parsley and set aside. Add enough olive oil to a paella pan (or other large, shallow pan) to cover the entire bottom of the pan and heat thoroughly. Add the pasta and toast until it first turns translucent, then reddish-yellow-brown (“golden blonde” = rossejat). Now add the tomatoes, garlic, and parsley and stir well for 1 minute. Add the boiling fish stock and bring to a boil as quickly as possible. Once the stock has been absorbed by the pasta, continue frying, stirring frequently, until the pasta starts to crackle! Add salt to taste. I love to quickly place the pan under the grill at the end for a few minutes. This makes the top layer of pasta really crispy and crunchy. Traditionally in Spain, the ingredients for allioli are processed in a mortar and pestle. Finely crush the garlic with salt. Then add the egg yolk and grind everything into a creamy paste. Now slowly add the oil – each addition must be completely absorbed by the paste before adding more oil. Add enough oil to make a fluffy, thick allioli. Serve the rossejat with the allioli. Simply heavenly!