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.
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Fideus de Vermar
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Fideus de Vermar is Mallorca's harvest pot from Binissalem: thick noodles simmered caldoso with lamb, red wine, sobrasada, and a dark sofrito until the broth tastes of the vineyard lunch.
Main Dishes
Spanish
Celebration
Comfort Food
One Pot
25 min
Active Time
2 hr 10 min cook•2 hr 35 min total
Yield6 servings
Fideus de Vermar is Mallorcan, from Binissalem and the grape harvest, and it is not the dry coastal fideuà people mistake every noodle dish for. This one is cocina de cuchara, spoon food: thick fideos cooked caldoso with lamb, sobrasada, red wine, tomato, and a sofrito that has gone dark and sweet. It belongs in a deep pot, not a flat pan.
The method that decides it is the order. Brown the lamb, cook the onion and tomato low until the sofrito loses its raw water, then melt in the sobrasada and give the meat time to soften before the noodles go in. Fideos are greedy. Add them too early and they drink the pot dry while the lamb is still tough. Add them when the broth already tastes good, and they carry the harvest flavor without turning it to paste.
If you're far from Mallorca, use lamb shoulder or neck on the bone; older mutton is closer if you can find it. For sobrasada, buy a real soft sobrasada, Mallorcan if possible, mainland if not. A spoon of minced cured chorizo is only a last compromise, sharper and less sweet, so use less and know what changed. No hace falta haber pisado España, but the pot asks for good lamb, a dry red wine, and patience.
In the Margin beside this dish I keep one warning: the noodles wait for no one. Bring the table to the pot, not the pot to a table that isn't ready. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Fideus de Vermar belongs to Binissalem, in Mallorca's Raiguer wine country, where the verema, the grape harvest, filled the village with workers and the meal had to feed many from one cauldron. Lamb or older sheep, sobrasada from the island's cured larder, tomàtiga de ramellet, and local red wine made a harvest dish that was filling, brothy, and easy to share. During the Festa des Vermar, the dish is cooked in large pots and served out in the street, which is why it remains tied to Binissalem rather than to Mallorca in a loose, general way.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
lamb shoulder or neck
Quantity
900g
preferably bone-in, cut into 4cm pieces
fine sea salt
Quantity
10g, divided
plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
45ml
yellow onion
Quantity
250g
finely chopped
green pepper
Quantity
120g
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
minced
ripe tomatoes, preferably tomàtigues de ramellet
Quantity
300g
grated
sobrasada de Mallorca
Quantity
90g
casing removed, broken into small pieces
pebre bord or sweet pimentón, preferably Tap de Cortí
Quantity
2 teaspoons
dry red wine
Quantity
175ml
bay leaf
Quantity
1
hot water or unsalted light lamb stock
Quantity
1.5L, plus more as needed
thick fideos, No. 4 or similar
Quantity
350g
flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Quantity
15g
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| lamb shoulder or neckpreferably bone-in, cut into 4cm pieces | 900g |
| fine sea saltplus more to taste | 10g, divided |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| extra virgin olive oil | 45ml |
| yellow onionfinely chopped | 250g |
| green pepperfinely chopped | 120g |
| garlic clovesminced | 4 |
| ripe tomatoes, preferably tomàtigues de ramelletgrated | 300g |
| sobrasada de Mallorcacasing removed, broken into small pieces | 90g |
| pebre bord or sweet pimentón, preferably Tap de Cortí | 2 teaspoons |
| dry red wine | 175ml |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| hot water or unsalted light lamb stock | 1.5L, plus more as needed |
| thick fideos, No. 4 or similar | 350g |
| flat-leaf parsley (optional)chopped | 15g |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide heavy pot, olla, or cazuela, 5 to 6 litres
- •Wooden spoon
- •Box grater for the tomatoes
- •Measuring jug for checking broth
Instructions
- 1
Brown the lamb
Pat the lamb dry and season it with 8g of the salt and the black pepper. Warm the olive oil in a wide 5 to 6 litre pot or cazuela over medium-high heat, then brown the lamb in batches, 8 to 10 minutes total, until the edges take good colour. Lift the meat to a plate and leave the fat and browned bits in the pot; that is the first flavour of the broth.
Bone-in neck or shoulder gives the broth more body. If you use boneless shoulder, cut it larger and watch it closely so it softens without drying. - 2
Cook the sofrito
Lower the heat to medium-low and add the onion, green pepper, and a pinch of the remaining salt. Cook slowly for 18 to 22 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is dark gold and jammy. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the grated tomato, and cook another 12 to 15 minutes until the tomato is thick and the oil shows at the edges. Pull the pot off the heat, stir in the pebre bord and the sobrasada, and let the sobrasada melt into the base. This slow sofrito is what keeps the stew from tasting like red water.
- 3
Braise with wine
Return the lamb and any juices to the pot. Pour in the red wine and let it bubble for 3 minutes, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add the bay leaf and 1.5 litres hot water or light stock, bring it to a steady simmer, then lower the heat and cook partly covered for 60 to 75 minutes, until the lamb is tender when pressed with a spoon. Skim only if the surface looks heavy with fat; a little red oil belongs here.
- 4
Add the fideos
Check the liquid before the noodles go in. You want about 1.25 litres of broth in the pot; add hot water if it has reduced too far. Bring it back to an active simmer, add the fideos, and stir once so they settle evenly. Cook 9 to 12 minutes, depending on their thickness, until tender but still holding their shape. Keep it caldoso, loose enough for a spoon; this is not fideuà, and it should move like stew when you shake the pot.
If the noodles start swelling above the broth, add hot water 100ml at a time. Cold water stops the cooking and makes the surface dull. - 5
Rest and serve
Turn off the heat while there is still broth visible around the noodles. Rest 5 minutes, taste for salt, and fold in the parsley if you're using it. Serve at once in deep bowls, with lamb in every portion and the pimentón-red broth spooned over the top. The noodles keep drinking as they sit, so don't let the finished pot wait around.
Chef Tips
- •Use thick fideos, No. 4 if you can find them. If all you have is spaghetti, break it into 3cm lengths and start checking early; it will not drink the broth quite the same way, but it will get you close.
- •Sobrasada de Mallorca is soft, red with pimentón, and meant to melt. If you cannot find it, use another Spanish sobrasada. Finely minced cured chorizo is a last compromise, sharper and firmer, so use 50g with an extra spoon of olive oil and know the pot will taste less round.
- •Tomàtiga de ramellet, the Mallorcan hanging tomato, gives a deep, dry tomato base. Away from the island, use ripe grated tomatoes in season, or good canned whole tomatoes crushed by hand when the market gives you nothing worth grating.
- •Use a dry young red wine, not sweet wine. A Mallorcan red from the Binissalem area is right if you have it; any honest dry red you would drink at the table will do the job.
- •Do not cook the noodles ahead. The lamb and sofrito base can wait, even improve, but the fideos keep swelling until they steal the broth. Finish them only when people are ready to eat.
Advance Preparation
- •The lamb can be browned and braised with the sofrito up to 1 day ahead. Chill the base, skim only excess fat, then reheat gently and add the fideos just before serving.
- •The onion, pepper, garlic, and tomatoes can be prepared a few hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
- •If the made-ahead base thickens in the cold, loosen it with hot water as it reheats. Do not add the noodles until the broth is simmering and the table is ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 425g)
Calories
670 calories
Total Fat
37 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
22 g
Cholesterol
95 mg
Sodium
1000 mg
Total Carbohydrates
53 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
31 g
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