Chef Isabel
Aletría Murciana
Aletría Murciana is Murcia's humble noodle guiso: fine fideos, pork ribs, potato, saffron, and a dark sweet sofrito. Get that base right and the pot knows where it's going.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Fideos con Almejas a la Andaluza
Created by
Fideos con almejas are coastal Andalucía in a cazuela: short noodles, clams, a slow tomato sofrito, and the clam liquor strained clean so the whole pot tastes of the sea.
Main Dishes
Spanish
Quick Meal
Comfort Food
One Pot
25 min
Active Time
35 min cook•1 hr total
Yield4 servings
Fideos con almejas a la andaluza belong to the coast, especially the southern tables that know what to do with a handful of good shellfish and a packet of short noodles. This is not pasta with sauce. It is a guiso, a spoonable stew, where the fideos swell in the broth and take the sea into themselves.
The method that decides it is simple: steam the clams first and save every drop of their liquor. Strain it clean, because sand has no place in your lunch, then use it as the backbone of the broth. The sofrito, the slow onion and tomato base, gives sweetness. The clam liquor gives the dish its name. Add the clams back only at the end, or they'll turn hard and sulky.
If you can't find Spanish almejas finas or chirlas, use small littleneck clams or Manila clams. They are not the same, but they behave properly in the pot. If the clams smell tired, cook something else that day. Sourcing wins. No hace falta haber pisado España, you don't need to have set foot in Spain, but you do need clean, live clams and the patience not to rush the sofrito.
Use fideos gordos, short thick Spanish noodles, if you can find them. Broken thin spaghetti works in a far kitchen, though it softens faster and drinks less broth, so watch it closely. My Margin beside this one says: "colar el caldo," strain the broth. A small warning, but it saves the whole cazuela. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Fideos con almejas sits in the coastal cooking shared by Andalucía and Galicia, where fishermen's households made small amounts of shellfish stretch by cooking them with noodles, rice, or potatoes. In Andalucía the dish often leans on a tomato sofrito, fino or white wine, and short fideos cooked directly in the seafood broth; in Galicia the same idea may be plainer, with the clam liquor carrying more of the work. The practice belongs to cocina de cuchara, spoon food, where the point is not abundance of shellfish but making the broth taste as if there were.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
live small clams, such as almejas, chirlas, littlenecks, or Manila clams
Quantity
1kg
scrubbed and purged
fideos gordos, short thick Spanish noodles, or broken thin spaghetti
Quantity
250g
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
60ml
medium onion
Quantity
1, about 150g
finely chopped
small green pepper
Quantity
1, about 90g
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
2 minced and 1 whole
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
250g
grated
good canned crushed tomato (optional)
Quantity
200g
dry white wine or fino sherry
Quantity
120ml
fish stock or light shellfish stock
Quantity
750ml
bay leaf
Quantity
1
sweet pimentón de la Vera
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
saffron threads (optional)
Quantity
small pinch
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon, plus more to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
15g
chopped
lemon (optional)
Quantity
1
cut into wedges
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| live small clams, such as almejas, chirlas, littlenecks, or Manila clamsscrubbed and purged | 1kg |
| fideos gordos, short thick Spanish noodles, or broken thin spaghetti | 250g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 60ml |
| medium onionfinely chopped | 1, about 150g |
| small green pepperfinely chopped | 1, about 90g |
| garlic cloves2 minced and 1 whole | 3 |
| ripe tomatoesgrated | 250g |
| good canned crushed tomato (optional) | 200g |
| dry white wine or fino sherry | 120ml |
| fish stock or light shellfish stock | 750ml |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| sweet pimentón de la Vera | 1/2 teaspoon |
| saffron threads (optional) | small pinch |
| fine sea salt | 1/4 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 15g |
| lemon (optional)cut into wedges | 1 |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide cazuela, saute pan, or shallow heavy pot, 28-30cm
- •Fine sieve plus kitchen paper or clean cloth for straining clam liquor
- •Large bowl for purging clams
Instructions
- 1
Purge the clams
Put the clams in a bowl of cold salted water for 30 minutes, then lift them out with your hands so any grit stays behind. Scrub the shells and discard any clam that is cracked, smells off, or stays open after a firm tap. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and check them one by one; one bad clam can spoil the whole pot.
Use about 30g salt per litre of cold water for purging. Do not leave clams soaking for hours in fresh water; they are alive, and fresh water weakens them. - 2
Steam and strain
Put the clams in a wide pot with the wine, the whole garlic clove, and 100ml of the stock. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, shaking the pot once or twice, just until the clams open. Lift the clams into a bowl as they open and discard any that stay shut. Strain the cooking liquor through a fine sieve lined with kitchen paper or a clean cloth. This strained liquor is the broth that makes the dish taste of the coast.
- 3
Build the sofrito
Wipe the cazuela clean. Add the olive oil, onion, green pepper, and a pinch of salt, then cook over medium-low heat for 12 to 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft, dark gold at the edges, and sweet-smelling. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the grated tomato and cook another 8 to 10 minutes, until the oil separates and the tomato has lost its raw sharpness. Rush this and the broth tastes thin.
- 4
Toast the fideos
Add the pimentón and saffron, if using, and stir for a few seconds only, so the pimentón blooms without scorching. Add the fideos and turn them through the sofrito for 1 to 2 minutes until they are glossy with oil. Toasting them lightly helps them hold their shape while they drink the broth.
- 5
Simmer the noodles
Pour in the strained clam liquor and the remaining stock, add the bay leaf, and bring to a lively simmer. Cook uncovered for 8 to 11 minutes, stirring now and then, until the fideos are tender but not mushy and the broth has thickened slightly. Keep it spoonable, not dry; this is a guiso, not fideuà.
- 6
Return the clams
Taste the broth before adding more salt, because the clam liquor may have done the work already. Return the opened clams and any juices from the bowl to the cazuela and cook 1 minute more, only to warm them through. Finish with parsley, black pepper, and lemon wedges if you like them at the table. Serve at once, while the noodles are still loose and glossy.
Chef Tips
- •Buy clams the day you cook them if you can. They should smell clean and briny, never sour, and the shells should close when tapped. Good clams make this dish; tired clams make a tired broth.
- •Fideos gordos, short thick Spanish noodles, are right here because they drink the broth without collapsing. If you use broken thin spaghetti, start checking at 6 minutes and keep the dish a little brothier, because it thickens quickly as it sits.
- •Use fish stock only if it is clean and light. A strong boxed stock can bully the clams. Water with the strained clam liquor is better than a muddy stock, and that is not a compromise.
- •Do not boil the clams twice. Steam them open, take them out, and return them at the end. Overcooked clams turn rubbery, and no amount of parsley rescues them.
- •A small glass of fino from Jerez suits the Andaluz version well. If you don't drink wine, use more light stock for steaming and add a teaspoon of vinagre de Jerez at the end to sharpen the broth.
Advance Preparation
- •The sofrito can be cooked up to 24 hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Warm it gently before adding the fideos.
- •Do not cook the full dish ahead if you want the best texture. The fideos keep drinking broth as they sit and turn soft.
- •Clams can be scrubbed and checked a few hours ahead, then held cold in a bowl covered with a damp cloth. Do not seal them airtight.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 430g)
Calories
450 calories
Total Fat
15 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
20 mg
Sodium
760 mg
Total Carbohydrates
58 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
18 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Fideuà & Fideos
Browse the full collection
Chef Isabel
Andrajos Andaluces con Conejo
Andrajos are Andalucía's dough-rag stew from Jaén and Granada: a slow rabbit guiso thickened with torn sheets of flour dough, rolled thin so they cook tender instead of gummy.
Chef Isabel
Fideos a la Marinera Catalanes
Fideos a la marinera belong to the Catalan coast: thick noodles cooked caldoso, spoonable and glossy, in fish broth with squid, clams, mussels, a dark sofrito, and a little picada.
Chef Isabel
Fideuà de Gandía
Fideuà de Gandía is Valencia's seafood noodle pan: short hollow fideos toasted in olive oil, cooked in strong fish broth, and left alone until the tips stand and catch.