Ingredients

Method

• 4 cups fish or seafood stock (not too strong)
• ½ cup white wine
• 750 g tightly closed fresh mussels, cleaned
• 350 g angelhair pasta, broken into bits (about 2 cm lengths)
• Olive oil, for frying
• 20 prawns in the shell, butterflied and deveined (about 230 g)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 - 2 t smoked Spanish paprika
• 1 x 390 g box Woolworths Italian tomatoes, finely chopped
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• Parsley, chopped, for serving
• Home-made garlicky mayonnaise, for serving
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Method

Ingredients

1. Bring the stock and wine to a simmer in a large saucepan. Drop in the mussels. Cover and cook for a few minutes until they open. Discard any mussels that refuse to open, but do give them a chance. Strain, reserving the liquid.
2. In a large wide paella-style pan, lightly toast the pasta in a little oil. Keep turning with tongs. Remove and set aside.
3. Add 1–2 T oil and sauté the prawns until pink and curled. Add a little oil to the pan and add the onion. Cook gently until very soft, adding oil as necessary. Stir in the garlic.
4. Add the paprika and tomatoes and cook over a fairly brisk heat, stirring occasionally, for 5–10 minutes, or until reduced to a saucy consistency. Stir in the reserved liquid and add the pasta.
5. Simmer for about 10 minutes, uncovered and untouched, allowing the pasta to soften and soak up the liquid. Check the seasoning. Return the seafood to the pan and gently heat through. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately with mayo and lemon wedges.

Cook's note: Fideua is a paella-style dish from Valencia. In Spain they use tiny pasta noodles called fideos, but broken bits of thin pasta will do.

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