Spanish-Style Seafood Stew
This is probably the only shellfish dish that I can still cook inside the house without hearing all the vegetarians in my home complaining about a seafood smell. I guarantee both seafood lovers and vegetarians will be happy at the table.
Ingredients
Yields: 4
2 lbs mussels, cleaned, debearded2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
6 baby squid
2 oz soyrizo
1 tsp chili powder, or more to taste
2 Tbs tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 whole shallot, finely minced
1/2 lb tilapia fillet
1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 qt fish stock
1 dozen baby Yukon potatoes, quartered
1 tsp saffron threads
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 dash heavy cream, to finish the sauce
1 tsp Meyer lemon + zest, for garnish
1 Tbs curly parsley, for garnish
Directions
In a plate, sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt on the shrimp. Reserve.
In a big stock pot, heat the olive oil and add the garlic, cooking until golden. Slightly saute the shrimp until they change color to a rosy pink. Add pepper and transfer back to a plate.
In the same stock pot, add the butter, then sweat the shallot. Add the tomato paste, chili, saffron and salt to the pot then pour the fish stock. Let it boil, then add the potatoes and lower the heat to a medium low for 15 minutes. Add 1/3 of a cup of water if the sauce is too thick, then add the squid, shrimp, tilapia and mussels. Bring the pot to a boil, then cover with a lid for 2 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let it stand for another 5 minutes. The mussels should be opened. Remove any that stay closed. Taste the sauce, seaon with more salt and pepper if necessary. Finish the sauce with the cream.
Top with parsley and lemon zest. Serve it immediately in a bowl with a bread like focaccia baguette.
Bon appétit!
Tips
I bought the soyrizo at Trader Joe's but you can easily make your own homemade vegetarian soy chorizo.
Save time by buying ready shelled and deveined shrimp.
To clean the mussels, I wash them thouroughly under tap water. Fill a bucket with a little water at the bottom and add the mussels. Add salt. The mussels will naturally release all the sand out. Pull any seaweed that you might find around the shells. Rinse one more time under running water. It's ready to be cooked.
