Fish stew Cataplana recipe
Extra tips from our chef Brigitte Berghammer-Hunger for the Cataplana recipe
- 500g Venus clams
- 500 g small, firm-cooking potatoes (e.g. new potatoes)
- 1 onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 130 g chorizo (Spanish paprika sausage)
- 80g of streaky bacon in one piece
- 400 g Tomatoes
- 2 bell peppers (yellow, red)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tsp sweet paprika powder
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 150 ml light port wine
- 100 ml white wine
- 200 ml fish stock
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 5 sprigs of thyme
- 8 Riesengarnelen à 55 g
- 400 g firm-fleshed fish fillet (e.g. monkfish, wolffish, sea bream, cod)
- 1/2 bunch coriander greens
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- Soak the mussels in plenty of cold water for 1 hour. Change the water several times and discard any damaged or open mussels.
- Wash, peel, and slice the potatoes into 4 mm thick slices.
- Peel and finely dice the onion. Peel and slice the garlic. Remove the casing from the chorizo and slice the sausage into approximately 4 mm thick slices. Cut the bacon into approximately 1 cm cubes.
- Remove the stems from the tomatoes and finely dice the flesh. Clean the bell peppers, remove the seeds and membranes. Cut the bell peppers into 4 mm wide strips.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the cataplana. Briefly sauté the onion, bacon, and garlic. Add the potatoes and sauté briefly. Add the paprika and tomato paste and sauté briefly. Add the port wine, white wine, fish stock, and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Close the cataplana, bring to a boil, and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes (the potatoes should be almost tender).
- Pluck the thyme leaves from the stems.
- Remove the shells from the shrimp. Make a shallow cut along the back and remove the vein.
- Pour the mussels into a sieve and let them drain.
- Remove the skin and bones from the fish fillet and cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Carefully open the cataplana (Caution: A lot of hot steam will escape!). Add tomatoes, thyme, bell peppers, and chorizo. Close the cataplana and shake gently.
- Open the cataplana again, place the mussels and shrimp on top of the vegetables. Close the pot again, cook over high heat for 5 minutes, until the mussels open. Add the fish and shrimp, close the pot, and let everything simmer over low heat for 5–8 minutes.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil over the dish. Discard any mussels that haven't opened. Pluck the coriander leaves from the stems and sprinkle them over the dish along with the chopped parsley.
You don't necessarily need an authentic Portuguese copper or iron cataplana pot with a tightly fitting lid and two handles for this recipe; you can also use a pot or pan with a lid. However, when using a cataplana, be extremely careful when opening the lid: very hot steam escapes, and you can easily burn yourself!
Cataplana thrives on its simplicity and speed of preparation; you don't even need to season it at the end. You can vary the ingredients; instead of fish, you can cook it with only meat or only vegetables. For the vegetarian version (e.g., with bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant), you'll need to shorten the cooking time slightly. If using meat, cut it into strips or thin slices to ensure it's cooked medium-rare, not overcooked. Sprinkled with fresh herbs at the end, the cataplana dish is also visually appealing.
Serve the fish stew with Cataplana flatbread, baguette or the wrinkled potatoes Papas arrugadas.