Rossejat means "roasted" in Catalan, here referring to rice or noodles which have been browned in oil before cooking. We're using short noodles here: "fideus" in Catalan or "fideos" in Spanish. Taste Atlas describes it succinctly:
Rossejat de fideos is a seafood dish consisting of thin noodles toasted in olive oil, cooked in fish broth with cuttlefish, prawns, or shrimp, and typically served straight from the pan with allioli. It belongs to the same family of seafood-and-pasta preparations as fideuà but has its own character and place at the table.
In turn, fideuà is basically a paella made with short pasta instead of rice. I've written about it it before, with varying degrees of fidelity: Ravalistan, all’Assassina, and Casual.
This Rossejat is less complex, coming together quickly, especially with thin noodles. It's surprisingly tasty for such simple ingredients.
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| Note how the short noodles have stood up vertically |
This recipe is based on one from Spain on a Fork which has a helpful video. I prefer the thin "angel hair" noodles to the spaghetti-thick fideus; my package indicates they take only 2-4 minutes to cook, rather than 6-12 for thicker ones. I've added some Choricero pepper to the base to enrich the flavor, and topped with sautéed Squid for our dinner. Use a flavorful fish stock; Irene made a richly flavored one I used here. I prepared this in a thin Paella on a portable gas burner, but you can use any pan you like, even non-stick.
This serves 2.
Olive Oil, extra virgin
250 g Squid, cleaned
125 g Fideus, thin, "angel hair"
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 g Pimenton Dulce (1 tsp)
1 Choricero Chili, dry, seeded, hydrated, chopped fine
1 Tomato, flesh grated, without skin
4 g Parsley, finely chopped (1 Tbs)
Heat the Fish Stock in a pot to a bare simmer so it will cook the fideos quickly.
In a Paella or other flat pan, heat some Olive Oil, and then sauté the Squid until browned; remove and slice the tubes into rings.
Add more Olive Oil if needed and sauté the Fideos until toasted, a few minutes; stir frequently as they can burn quickly; reserve.
Add the Garlic (and Olive Oil if needed), and sauté until softened. Add the Pimenton and stir quickly and briefly so it doesn't scorch, then add the chopped Choricero and cook for a minute. Add the grated Tomato pulp and Parsley, and cook a few minutes to concentrate the flavor and thicken.
Add the browned Fideos and the Stock, and stir to distribute everything. Crank up the heat and simmer vigorously for a few minutes until the Fideos are barely cooked; don't let them get mushy. Ideally, the Fideos will be al dente with just a little of the Stock left in the pan; if not, crank the heat or add more Stock as needed. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Near the end, top with the Squid. Turn off the heat and cover with a lid for a few minutes to let the Fideos absorb all the Stock.
If you're lucky, you'll notice that most of the strands of Fideos will have stood up vertically. I don't know why this happens but I've seen it in my better attempts, as well as in photos online.
This should be topped with a zesty Aioli (Rapidísimo, Toum), and served with a strong red wine to stand up to the rich flavors.