Ready to lick your fingers clean with this delicious Spanish dish?
A few weeks before Christmas, my mother called me to ask if I fancied Zarzuela, a kind of Spanish fish stew with different types of fish, for Christmas. Normally, for Christmas, I make Beef Wellington, leg of lamb, rack of lamb, or we have a gourmet dinner, so this was a nice and welcome change. I had already made the Beef Wellington a few days ago for a group of friends, so I didn't mind not making a second one.
On Christmas Day, my father was happily cooking in the kitchen, preparing the Zarzuela according to his own recipe. The various types of fish had all been cleaned and were ready to go into the pan. Delicious with a piece of baguette or ciabatta to sop up the sauce. It was truly tasty, and funny enough, I saw others on Instagram making the same dish.
I had to estimate the quantities a bit, partly because the pan was completely emptied. It looked like a lot, but it was finger-licking good. A generous stack of napkins is recommended.
For this dish, you will need for 2 to 3 people:
- Olive oil for frying (my parents, of course, have a 5 liter tin of Oro de Genave, but the small bottle of olive oil will also work)
- Jar of fish stock
- Handful of parsley
- Few strands of saffron
- Few pieces of toasted bread (picatoste)
- 20 grams of fried almonds
- Packet of fritada or ratatouille (250ml)
- 1 sliced bell pepper
- 1 chopped onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 Monkfish or cod (300 grams)
- 6 Cigalas (langoustines)
- 10 Gambas
- 10 Calamares (Squid rings)
- 10 Mussels
- Pepper, salt, and some flour to bread the monkfish
Preparation:
- Clean the different types of fish, cut the calamari into rings, cut the monkfish into pieces of about 4 centimeters. In this recipe, my father used monkfish, which is a fairly firm type of fish. It needs a little longer to cook, but then it doesn't fall apart. Cod is also an option.
- Cut the bell pepper into pieces, dice the bell pepper, fry some unroasted almonds in a pan until lightly toasted.
- Blend the fish stock, parsley, saffron, toasted bread, and almonds in a blender until a smooth sauce, so they can be easily added to the dish later.
- Then, pour a generous layer of olive oil for frying into a large braising pan, high enough to accommodate plenty of sauce and ingredients. I use Oro de Genave which is ideal for frying at higher temperatures.
- Start by frying the monkfish. First, dredge it in some flour (breading) to prevent splattering and give the fish a brown crust. Then remove from the pan.
- Repeat these steps with all other types of fish. They all need to be slightly cooked and have a brown color. Later, all the fish types will be combined and will continue to cook.
- Once you are done browning the fish, you can sauté the chopped onion. Keep stirring constantly until it becomes translucent.
- Then add the bell pepper, the fritada, or, to make it easy, ratatouille. Let the mixture thicken a bit.
- Now start adding the different types of fish. Begin with the monkfish, calamari, prawns, mussels, and place the cigalas (langoustines) on top.
- Then add the fish stock and let the whole thing simmer and thicken. The monkfish really needs some time to cook through (about 10 minutes), so don't take it off the heat too soon.
- Remove from heat and serve with a baguette or ciabatta to soak up the sauce.
- Enjoy and don't forget to lay out plenty of napkins to wipe your fingers!
Buen provecho!
