Chef Isabel
Fabada Asturiana
Fabada Asturiana is Asturias in a pot: fat fabes de la granja, cured compango, and a slow tremble on the stove until the beans turn creamy and the broth shines.
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Verdinas con Marisco
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Verdinas con marisco are Asturian spoon food from the green coast: small verdina beans, a clean shellfish broth, and a pot shaken by the handles so the beans stay whole.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Special Occasion
Dinner Party
One Pot
35 min
Active Time
2 hr 15 min cook•14 hr 50 min total
Yield6 servings
Verdinas con marisco are Asturian, from the coast where the small pale-green verdina bean meets clams, prawns, and a clean shellfish broth. This is cocina de cuchara, spoon food, but lighter than a fabada. No compango, no chorizo, no heavy smoke. The bean is creamy and delicate, and the sea does the seasoning.
The method that decides it is gentleness. Soak the verdinas overnight, start them in cold water, and keep them at the barest tremble. Stirring breaks their thin skins, so you move the pot by the handles, back and forth, until the broth thickens by itself. Add the shellfish at the end, not before, or you trade sweetness for rubber. Nobody needs that at a dinner table.
If you can't find verdinas where you are, use a small dried white bean with a thin skin, alubia arrocina if you can get it, cannellini if that's what the shop gives you. The colour will be paler and the flavour less green and fresh, but the dish still works if the shellfish is good. No hace falta haber pisado España. Con buenos ingredientes y paciencia, siempre sale, si lo sigues.
In the Margin beside this one I keep the same warning every time: do not boil hard, do not stir with a spoon, do not put the prawns in early. Three plain rules. Follow them and the pot looks after you.
Verdinas belong to Asturias, especially the eastern coast around Llanes, where the small greenish bean became prized for stews with fish and shellfish rather than pork. Their thin skin and soft, buttery centre made them a natural match for the Cantabrian larder: clams, prawns, monkfish, and clean broths from shells and bones. Unlike fabada, which leans on the cured meats of the inland matanza, verdinas con marisco speak from the coastal table.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried verdina beans
Quantity
500g
soaked overnight
raw prawns or langoustines
Quantity
300g
shells on
clams
Quantity
500g
scrubbed and purged
mussels
Quantity
250g
scrubbed and debearded
cold water
Quantity
1.5 litres, plus more as needed
leek, white part only
Quantity
1 small
chopped
carrot
Quantity
1
chopped
bay leaf
Quantity
1
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
90ml
onion
Quantity
1 medium
finely chopped
green pepper
Quantity
1 small
finely chopped
garlic
Quantity
3 cloves
2 finely chopped, 1 whole
ripe tomato
Quantity
150g
grated
dry white wine
Quantity
100ml
saffron threads
Quantity
1 pinch
sweet pimentón
Quantity
1 teaspoon
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 tablespoon
chopped
salt
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried verdina beanssoaked overnight | 500g |
| raw prawns or langoustinesshells on | 300g |
| clamsscrubbed and purged | 500g |
| musselsscrubbed and debearded | 250g |
| cold water | 1.5 litres, plus more as needed |
| leek, white part onlychopped | 1 small |
| carrotchopped | 1 |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| extra virgin olive oil | 90ml |
| onionfinely chopped | 1 medium |
| green pepperfinely chopped | 1 small |
| garlic2 finely chopped, 1 whole | 3 cloves |
| ripe tomatograted | 150g |
| dry white wine | 100ml |
| saffron threads | 1 pinch |
| sweet pimentón | 1 teaspoon |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 1 tablespoon |
| salt | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide heavy pot or low olla, 28-30cm
- •Small stockpot
- •Fine sieve
- •Wooden spoon for the sofrito
Instructions
- 1
Soak the beans
Put the verdinas in a large bowl and cover them with plenty of cold water. Leave them overnight, 10 to 12 hours. Drain them before cooking. Pésalo, no lo adivines: old beans take longer and need patience, but a full soak gives them their best chance to cook evenly.
- 2
Make shellfish stock
Peel the prawns, keeping the meat chilled and saving the heads and shells. Put the shells in a pot with 1.5 litres cold water, the leek, carrot, bay leaf, and the whole garlic clove. Bring to a gentle simmer, cook 25 minutes, then strain. Press the shells lightly, not hard, or the broth can turn bitter. You should have about 1.2 litres stock.
If your fishmonger has fish bones, add 300g white fish bones to the stock and keep the simmer gentle. A clean broth matters more here than a strong one. - 3
Start the verdinas
Put the drained verdinas in a wide heavy pot and cover them with the warm shellfish stock by about 3cm. Bring them up slowly over medium heat, then lower the heat until the surface barely trembles. Skim the pale foam that rises. Do not salt yet.
- 4
Cook the sofrito
Warm the olive oil in a frying pan and add the onion, green pepper, and chopped garlic with a small pinch of salt. Cook low and slow for 20 to 25 minutes, until the onion is dark gold, soft, and jammy. Add the grated tomato and cook 10 minutes more, until the water is gone and the oil shows at the edges. This slow sofrito, the onion base, is where the sweetness comes from.
- 5
Add saffron and wine
Toast the saffron in a dry corner of the pan for a few seconds, then pour in the white wine and let it bubble down by half. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the pimentón so it blooms without scorching. Scrape the sofrito into the beans.
- 6
Simmer without stirring
Keep the verdinas at that bare tremble for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the age of the beans. If the level drops, add a splash of hot water or stock. Do not stir with a spoon. Shake the pot by the handles now and then, a short steady movement, so the broth thickens and the skins stay whole.
- 7
Add the shellfish
When the beans are tender and creamy inside, taste the broth and salt it carefully. Add the prawns, clams, and mussels, settle them into the top of the pot, cover, and cook 4 to 6 minutes, shaking the pot once or twice by the handles, until the shells open and the prawns are just opaque. Throw away any clams or mussels that stay closed.
- 8
Rest and serve
Take the pot off the heat and let it rest 10 minutes. The broth will settle and turn silkier around the beans. Scatter with parsley and serve in deep bowls, making sure every person gets verdinas, prawns, clams, mussels, and enough broth for bread. Tal como se hace allí: quiet, rich, and clean.
Chef Tips
- •Buy verdinas from a shop with good turnover. Their thin skins are the point, but old beans can stay tight and chalky no matter how kind you are to them.
- •If verdinas are impossible to find, use alubia arrocina, navy beans, or small cannellini. The dish will lose the pale green colour and some delicacy, but it will still be a proper seafood bean stew if the broth is clean and the simmer is gentle.
- •Purge clams in cold salted water for 30 minutes before cooking, then lift them out instead of pouring the sandy water over them. Sand in a stew is one of those mistakes you remember.
- •Do not add the shellfish early. The beans need time; shellfish needs minutes. Put them in only when the verdinas are tender.
- •Serve with a dry Asturian sidra if you have it, or a crisp young white from Galicia or the Basque coast. Keep it bright, not oaky.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the verdinas overnight, 10 to 12 hours, in plenty of cold water.
- •The shellfish stock can be made up to 1 day ahead and kept chilled.
- •You can cook the verdinas with the sofrito until tender several hours ahead. Reheat gently, then add the shellfish just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 480g)
Calories
480 calories
Total Fat
15 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
50 mg
Sodium
760 mg
Total Carbohydrates
59 g
Dietary Fiber
18 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
28 g
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