This is a simple recipe for CATAPLANA. (By the way, I revised it once we returned back to the states and prepared it!)
A very popular seafood dish we enjoyed in the Algarve region of Portugal. Cataplana is actually the copper pot they cook it in.
It seems there may be many variations of fish stews, yet this was our favorite!
Prep time is only 20 min and cooking time 35 min... super easy and nutritious!
Ingredients:
2 lbs of varied fish (we prefer monkfish, grouper or cod)
1/4 lb of shrimp in shell
1/4 lb of mussels in shell (make sure you de-beard them)
1/2 lb of clams
5 lg tomatoes
1 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 cup of white wine
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of chili pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Directions:
Arrange and cut the fish into pieces, add to a bowl and season with the lemon juice, white wine, salt and pepper and let it marinate for 20 minutes (I think this is the secret!).
Meanwhile, peel and cut the onions into slices and chop the garlic.
Wash the tomatoes and cut them into slices as well.
Wash, clean the seeds and cut the green & red pepper into strips.
Wash the tomatoes and cut them into slices as well.
Wash, clean the seeds and cut the green & red pepper into strips.
Place the onion, garlic, tomato, pepper, drained fish, also add the mussels, clams, thawed shrimp, bay leaf & chili pepper into a dutch oven or copper pot. (We have neither so we just used a pasta pot). Drizzle the remaining marinade over everything and then drizzle with the Worcestershire sauce and olive oil.
Place the cataplana over medium heat. Cover and simmer for about 35 minutes, lightly stirring from time to time. Do a taste test and salt and pepper accordingly.
Place the cataplana over medium heat. Cover and simmer for about 35 minutes, lightly stirring from time to time. Do a taste test and salt and pepper accordingly.
Make sure everything is well cooked, remove from the heat and serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.
At some restaurants they served it over a bowl of rice, my husband loved it that way.
Enjoy!
XOCasey
(I tweaked this recipe once we returned and made it ourselves. You may want to add fish stock to create more liquid. Some restaurants added sliced potatoes, yet I prefer it without).