Recipes Lobster with Fideos Be the first to rate & review! Rossejat de fideos, a traditional seafood dish of Spain's Catalonia region, resembles paella but instead of rice, it calls for fideos, fine vermicelli-like pasta. Here, the pasta browns in hot oil until toasty, then cooks slowly in a deliciously rich stock, made with the lobster shells, soaking up all the flavor. Chef Holiday Recipes Made Easy More Recipes from José Andrés By José Andrés José Andrés F&W Star Chef » See All F&W Chef Superstars Superstar Spanish chef José Andrés tells Food & Wine about his passion for paella, cooking à la plancha and why chopsticks are the perfect kitchen tool. What’s your most requested recipe, the one dish you’re most known for? More and more, my paella. I’ve also been making a big push for it over the past year—I truly believe everyone in America will know how to make paella within the next 50 years, and will cook paella like they now do barbecue on the 4th of July. It has all the right components: You cook it outside like you do for barbecue, but at the next level of sophistication. It gives you many options, and you can feed a lot of people once you get the hang of it. So I predict paella will be the next big thing. What’s your favorite cookbook of all time? I keep changing. I think my favorite book right now would be The Virginia Housewife, by Mary Randolph. If Americans want to know what America is, they need to know that book. It wasn’t the first cookbook printed in America, but you could argue it was the first cookbook printed in America written by an American. The cookbooks that preceded it were all copies of English books. It was an important book for me when I opened my pop-up, America Eats Tavern, in Washington, DC, last year; we offered a Mary Randolph tasting menu with her mock turtle soup. She even had 10 Spanish recipes in there. What’s the best cheap cooking gadget? The cheapest gadget—and you don’t even have to spend a dime—is chopsticks from a Chinese restaurant. I use them for everything: to toss salads, to turn a piece of meat in the pan, to flip croquettes in the Fryolator, to whisk eggs for omelets, to stir eggs into fried rice when I make that for my daughters. I also like to use chopsticks as tweezers; they can bring a level of sophistication when you cook. Sometimes I like to plate salads using chopsticks; it’s a great chance to concentrate and relax. What’s one technique everyone should know? How to cook à la plancha. A plancha is just a hot flat surface. So if you think about it, anything is a plancha, like a sauté pan or a griddle. À la plancha is the perfect way to cook for a crowd. Most people only use their griddles for pancakes, but you can sear vegetables like sliced zucchini or mushrooms, thinly sliced meats like chicken or pork, or thinly sliced fish or squid. You can do grilled cheese sandwiches à la plancha, a quick omelet à la plancha, you can even open oysters or clams à la plancha with hardly any need for oil. Nothing could be easier. Say you have beautiful, fresh, head-on Louisiana shrimp: You can sprinkle the hot plancha with a little salt, put the shrimp on the plancha and season the shrimp, then wait 4 to 5 minutes before flipping them to cook the other side. Wait another few minutes until the shrimp are white all the way through, and you have Louisiana shrimp à la plancha. Serve the shrimp or vegetables or omelet with a little pesto or mayonnaise, some other favorite sauce, mayo, you don’t need much. A plancha is all you need! Can you share a great entertaining tip? Don’t try to do more than one hot dish. To serve something hot à la minute, you have to be in the kitchen controlling the oven or the fire. Especially when you have more than eight or 10 people, things begin to get complicated. And when things get complicated, you’re not having fun, and the kitchen is a mess. Serve only one hot thing that can hold, like a soup—clam chowder, lobster chowder, pumpkin soup, people enjoy those a lot and they’re all very easy. If you want to keep your side dishes warmer than room temperature, consider buying a small steam table for the home, with the Sterno cans underneath. Last, don’t make excuses if something doesn’t turn out quite as you planned; you’ve tried your best. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on May 24, 2017 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © Akiko Ida & Pierre Javelle Active Time: 1 hrs 15 mins Total Time: 1 hrs 45 mins Yield: 12 1-course servings Ingredients Six 1 1/4-pound lobsters 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped 2 large carrots, coarsely chopped 2 large sweet onions, chopped One 35-ounce can peeled whole tomatoes, drained and chopped 1 1/2 tablespoons sweet pimentón de la Vera (smoked Spanish paprika) 1/2 cup brandy 3 quarts water 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted Salt and freshly ground pepper 1 1/2 pounds fideos or angel hair pasta, broken into 3-inch lengths Directions Bring a large, heavy pot of water to a boil. Add the lobsters and cook for 5 minutes; the water does not need to return to a boil. Transfer the lobsters to 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Drain the pot. When the lobsters are cool enough to handle, twist off the tails and claws. Break the bodies and little legs into 3-inch pieces. Using scissors, cut down the center of the tail shells and remove the tails in one piece. Cut down the length of each tail and discard the dark intestinal veins. Crack the claws and remove the meat in one piece. Cover and refrigerate the lobster meat. Heat 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the large pot. Add the lobster body pieces and legs and cook over high heat, stirring often, until beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots and onions and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until any liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the pimentón and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the brandy and cook until almost evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add the water and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat for 30 minutes, skimming a few times. Strain the lobster stock into a large saucepan. Bring the stock to a simmer, cover and keep hot. Preheat the oven to 400°. Wash out the large pot and return it to the stove. Slice the lobster tails crosswise 1/2 inch thick and transfer the slices to a large rimmed baking sheet, fanning them slightly. Put the claw meat on the baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine the melted butter with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil; brush over the lobster and season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake for about 12 minutes, until just heated through. Meanwhile, in the large pot, heat the remaining 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of olive oil until shimmering. Add the fideos and cook over moderately high heat, stirring constantly, until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in half of the lobster stock, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Add half of the remaining stock, cover and cook until almost absorbed, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining stock and cook, stirring, until the fideos are al dente, about 2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the fideos into shallow bowls, top with the lobster and serve. Make Ahead The stock and cooked lobster can be refrigerated separately overnight. Suggested Pairing The luscious lobster here is delicious with a medium-bodied, lightly oaked white. Rueda in central Spain produces choices with subtle, well-integrated oak flavors that won't overwhelm the dish. Rate it Print