Spanish Fideo with Chicken

August 17, 2020

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went to one of our favorite Spanish restaurants to have a glass of wine, socially distanced outside. We were looking at the actual menu and my husband was curious about the Pasta Espanola con Pollo or Spanish Fideo with Chicken. I decided that I would make it at home. Fideo is a short, thin, vermicelli-like noodle used in paella-like Spanish and Mexican dishes. It was so good, that I will make it again. It was a taste of Spain in a dish!

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Yields: 4 Servings

Ingredients

3 chicken breast, boneless, skinless, cut into chunks

4 cups chicken broth or stock

7 ounces cut fideo noodles, (fine)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced

sea salt, to taste

½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, divided

½ yellow onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika

Salt and black pepper to taste

manchego cheese, grated

olives, optional

Directions

1Season chicken with salt and pepper.

2Warm chicken broth in a saucepan and keep covered on simmer.

3Heat one tablespoon of oil in a skillet. Fry noodles for about 2 minutes while stirring frequently for all to get toasted and browned.

4Over medium-high heat, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. Once the pan is hot, add onion, stir, add chicken, and stir again. Add garlic and ¼ cup parsley and keep stirring until chicken is more than halfway cooked, about 3 minutes.

5Add paprika, tomato paste, the rest of the chopped parsley, and the salt and stir. Add fried noodles. Stir everything one last time making sure chicken is spread evenly in the pan. Make this your last stir. Add 3 cups of warm broth, one at a time. Shake the pan but do not stir.

6Bring to a slight boil, lower heat to medium-low and keep moving or turning the paella pan for all the sides to get cooked. Once the broth has evaporated, add the last cup on the sides of the pan and shake the pan to move broth to all places. Give it a taste and check if needs a sprinkle of salt. I like to add olives on top.

7Once the broth has evaporated, it’s ready. Let it rest for a few minutes, top with Manchego and serve with lemon wedges.

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