Special Paella - Fideuà - Pasta Paella

Fideuà is a colorful Valencian and Catalan dish often described as an interpretation of the popular paella. Similar to its more popular counterpart, fideuà employs a variety of seafood ingredients, but instead of rice, it combines them with thin and short pasta called fideo.

The choice of seafood can include many fish and shellfish varieties such as cuttlefish, monkfish, and shrimp. To prepare the dish, pasta is shortly fried, and only later added and cooked in the flavorful saffron-spiced seafood broth. Like paella, fideuà is cooked in a shallow iron pan and it is typically not mixed in order to allow a crispy crust to be formed on the bottom.

It is believed that this Valencian classic originated in 1930 in the city of Gandia, on one of many local fishing boats. In restaurants, it is often served in a pan in which it was prepared, and it is usually shared among a group of people. Before serving, the dish is often topped with chopped parsley and lemon juice, while some prefer to pair it with an aromatic aioli sauce.

Heating your paella when it was delivered

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place paella pan in oven with aluminum foil cover ON to prevent it drying out in the process.

Heat for 30 to 40 minutes or until metal edge of the paella pan feels hot to the touch. Remember all ovens are different, and yours might need different times than what is recommended here.

- Rule of thumb. You can cook lasagna from scratch to a full boil in most ovens at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for forty minutes. -

Your paella has been freshly cooked and delivered to you, so you do not have to cook it again. In Spain, eating paella warm or at “room temperature” is done often since it is a Sunday family dish enjoyed by a group, and in such a setup, keeping the paella hot is not always possible unless it is served directly over the coals.