If you like Paella, you will love Fideua (pronounced: fid-ay-wa). This dish from Valencia is like the little sister to Paella but prepared with Fideus (a small thin Spanish pasta) instead of rice.

I decided to pair this recipe with a 2009 Brut Nature Cava, Vendrell Olivella by Mas Goma. The Cava has a nice lingering acidity and a sturdy structure that pairs well with this rustic Spanish dish. I made a vegan version (because, why not?) with roasted vegetables, but if you prefer to add seafood or meat, knock yourself out!  Oh, and it is often prepared in a special earthenware dish called a Cazuela, but I didn’t have one, so I used a paella pan.

Ingredients

Serves 4

Method

In a large paella pan, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent. Add minced garlic and cook over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Add chickpeas, oregano, the sweet and smoked paprika, a pinch of salt and cook for about 10 minutes more. Add the wine to deglaze the pan.

Meanwhile, slather the carrots, eggplant, Padrón peppers, and tomatoes with olive oil and place the vegetables in a single layer on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Spread the pasta on a separate baking sheet in a single layer. Roast at 200° for about ten minutes. Toast the pasta in the oven until golden brown. Watch the pasta, it should be a bit browned, but you don’t want it to burn! 

Mix the tomatoes and water together and season with pepper and enough salt so that it tastes like the sea. Put half of the pasta and half of the Padrón peppers, carrots, and eggplant in the pan.  Add half of the tomato and water broth.  Gently fold everything together until all ingredients are well combined. Layer the rest of the pasta, the remaining roasted vegetables, and the rest of the tomato and water broth. Let everything simmer until the pasta is tender.

Garnish with the roasted tomatoes.

Background Music: Take Five by Dave Brubeck