Zarzuela de Mariscos Catalana

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 32-34cm cazuela de barro or heavy sauté pan
• •Heat diffuser if using barro on a gas flame
• •Mortar and pestle
• •Fine sieve
• •Large covered pot for opening shellfish

Instructions

1. 1

   Purge and season

   Put the clams in a bowl with 1 litre cold water and 30g salt for 30 minutes, then lift them out and rinse. Scrub the mussels and pull away the beards. Pat the monkfish and prawns dry, then season the monkfish lightly with salt and pepper and dust it with the flour, shaking off every loose bit. Flour is only there to help the fish brown and thicken the sauce a little; a heavy coat makes paste.

   Discard any mussel or clam with a broken shell, or one that stays open when tapped before cooking. After cooking, discard any that refuse to open.
2. 2

   Open the shellfish

   Set a wide pot over medium-high heat with 100ml of the white wine. Add the mussels and clams, cover, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, shaking the pot once or twice, just until the shells open. Lift the shellfish into a bowl. Strain the cooking liquor through a fine sieve lined with kitchen paper or a clean cloth and keep it; that liquor is part of the sea in the dish, but the grit stays behind.

3. 3

   Brown fish and prawns

   Warm 45ml of the olive oil in a wide cazuela or heavy sauté pan over medium-high heat. Brown the monkfish for about 1 minute per side, just to set the outside, then lift it out. Add the prawns and cook 45 seconds per side until the shells redden and smell sweet, then lift them out too. They are not cooked through yet. Good. They finish later, where you can watch them.

4. 4

   Cook the sofregit

   Lower the heat to medium-low and add the remaining 30ml olive oil if the pan looks dry. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 15 to 18 minutes, stirring often, until soft, dark gold, and sweet. Add the chopped garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in the grated tomato and the scraped ñora flesh, or the pimentón, and cook another 15 to 20 minutes until the sofregit is thick, dark, and almost no liquid runs when you drag the spoon through it. This slow cook is where the sweetness comes from; hurry it and the whole zarzuela tastes thinner.

5. 5

   Simmer the squid

   Add the squid rings and tentacles to the sofregit and turn them through the oil for 2 minutes. Pour in the brandy off the heat, return the pan to the stove, and let it bubble down for 1 minute. Add the remaining 50ml white wine and reduce until the sharp smell is gone. Pour in the hot fish stock, the strained shellfish liquor, the bay leaf, and the saffron. Simmer gently for 18 to 20 minutes, until the squid has turned tender and the sauce tastes rounded, not raw.

6. 6

   Make the picada

   While the squid simmers, pound the toasted almonds, fried bread, half the parsley, and a small pinch of salt in a mortar until you have a rough paste. Loosen it with 2 or 3 spoonfuls of the hot sauce from the cazuela. Picada is not a garnish. It is what binds the sauce so it clings to the fish instead of sitting thin at the bottom of the bowl.

   A small food processor works if you must, but stop before it turns smooth. Picada should have a little grain from the almonds.
7. 7

   Finish in order

   Taste the sauce before the seafood goes back in; it should be well seasoned but not salty, because the shellfish brings more. Nestle in the monkfish and simmer gently for 4 minutes. Add the prawns and cook 2 minutes. Add the opened mussels and clams, spoon in the picada, and shake the pan by the handles to settle everything into the sauce. Cook 2 to 3 minutes more, just until the prawns are firm and the monkfish flakes in large pieces. Do not hard-boil it now. That is how tender seafood becomes punishment.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Turn off the heat, scatter over the remaining parsley, and let the zarzuela rest for 5 minutes in the cazuela. The sauce will gloss over and thicken slightly as the picada settles. Serve with lemon wedges if you like and plenty of bread for the broth. Tal como se hace allí, the cazuela comes to the table and everyone reaches in.

Chef Tips

• •Buy by smell before you buy by recipe. The fish should smell clean and briny, never sour. If the market has better hake than monkfish, buy the hake and add it two minutes later than the monkfish timing here, because it flakes faster.
• •Shell-on prawns give the sauce more than peeled ones ever will. If frozen prawns are what you can get, thaw them slowly in the refrigerator, pat them dry, and keep the shells on while they cook.
• •No ñora where you are? Use 1 teaspoon sweet pimentón, added with the tomato and kept away from fierce heat. It gives a smokier, redder sauce than ñora, so don't add more just because the jar smells good.
• •Use a real fish stock if you can. A quick fumet from white fish bones, prawn shells, onion, parsley stems, and water needs only 25 minutes. Long boiling makes fish stock tired and bitter.
• •A cazuela de barro is right for the table, but it needs gentle heat and a diffuser on many stoves. A wide heavy sauté pan is better than cracked barro. The dish cares more about even cooking than romance.
• •Drink a dry Catalan white with it, something from Penedès or Empordà, or a brut nature cava. The wine should cut the olive oil and shellfish sweetness, not perfume the room.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the sofregit up to 1 day ahead and refrigerate it. Bring it back to a simmer with the stock before adding the squid and seafood.
• •Make the picada up to 4 hours ahead, but keep it covered so the bread does not dry into crumbs. Loosen it with hot sauce only when you cook.
• •Clean the mussels and purge the clams the day you serve them. Shellfish is not where you show off with advance work.
• •The finished zarzuela is best eaten at once. Leftovers keep 1 day covered in the refrigerator, but reheat gently and expect the shellfish to be firmer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 370g)