Fideuà Negra for #FishFridayFoodies

It's time for Fish Friday Foodies' October event. We are a group of seafood-loving bloggers, rallied by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, to share fish and seafood recipes on the third Friday of the month. 

This month, Caroline of Caroline's Cooking is hosting. Here was her challenge to the group: "As fall is upon us and winter all too soon, let's create some pasta dishes with fish and seafood. Whether it's a quick midweek meal for a busy school day or a comforting weekend feast, pair together your favorites."

As I was researching possibilities, I came across fideuà which is essentially paella made with pasta instead of rice. Then I came across a Fideuà Negra and I was sold. I am more than a little enamored with anything that includes cuttlefish ink!

Oh, about the name - fideuà is usually made with short lengths of dry pasta called fideus. Since I couldn't find any of that, I opted for some gluten-free spaghetti noodles. I broke them into two-inch lengths. Also, I will be the first to admit that mine is not a traditional fideuà, but it was so, so tasty!

Ingredients serves 4

• 1 T butter
• 2 T olive oil, divided
• 1 onion, peeled and diced (approximately 1-1/2 C)
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
• ½ t fennel seed
• ½ t coriander seed
• 1 to 2 bay leaves
• ½ pound shrimp, peeled
• ½ pound squid, cleaned
• ½ pound fish, cubed (I used a local, wild-caught rockfish)
• ½ pound mussels
• ½ pound clams
• 2 T tomato sauce (I used some of my Roasted Tomato Sauce)
• 1 to 2 T cuttlefish ink
• pinch of saffron
• 1 pound spaghetti broken into 2" pieces (I used gluten-free)
• 2 C water
• 2 C stock (I used some homemade duck stock from the bones of my Spicy Braised Duck Legs)
• lemon wedges for serving

Procedure

In a large, flat bottom pan with a tight-fitting lid, melt 1 T butter in 1 T olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook until softened and beginning to turn translucent. Stir in the fennel seeds and coriander seeds.

Add in the squid, shrimp, and fish. Saute until the the shrimp begins to turn opaque. Stir in the tomato sauce and the cuttlefish ink. Tuck in the bay leaves and sprinkle the saffron over the top.

Top the seafood with the pasta pieces. Pour in the water and the stock. Nestle the mussels and clams into the pot. Drizzle with 1 T olive oil. Bring the liquid to a boil. Cover and simmer for the length it will take to cook the pasta. Mine took 7 minutes, according to the package.

Uncover and cook until your desired soupiness or dryness. I left some broth because we love soup!

Ladle into individual soup plates. Traditionally this is served with a dab of aioli; we went with a squeeze of lemon juice instead.

An InLinkz Link-up