About this Dish
A seafood stew named after the copper clam-shaped vessel it is cooked in — clams, prawns and fish sealed inside the cataplana with tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic and chourico, steamed in their own juices. From the Algarve region. The cataplana vessel was introduced by the Moors during their occupation of southern Portugal.
IngredientsServes 4
🐚Clams (amêijoas), 500g scrubbed clean
🦐Raw king prawns, 300g shell-on
🐟Firm white fish (monkfish or cod), 300g cut into chunks
🌭Chouriço, 150g sliced into rounds
🍅Ripe tomatoes, 4 large roughly chopped
🫑Red and green peppers, 1 of each thinly sliced
🧅White onion, 1 large thinly sliced
🧄Garlic cloves, 4 finely sliced
🍷Dry white wine, 150ml
🫒Olive oil, 4 tablespoons
Method
1
Heat the olive oil in your cataplana (or a large heavy-lidded pot) over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, peppers and chouriço and fry gently for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and fragrant.2
Add the chopped tomatoes, a good pinch of salt, black pepper and a generous pinch of smoked paprika. Stir everything together and cook for another 5 minutes until the tomatoes start to break down into a loose sauce.3
Pour in the white wine and let it bubble for 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning — it should be rich, slightly sweet and deeply savoury.4
Nestle the fish chunks into the sauce first, then scatter the prawns and clams on top. Do not stir — you want the seafood to steam in layers above the sauce.5
Close the cataplana lid tightly (or cover with a well-fitting lid) and turn the heat up to medium-high. Cook sealed for 10–12 minutes — do not be tempted to open it early, as the steam inside is doing all the work.6
Open the lid away from you to avoid the burst of steam and check that all the clams have opened and the prawns are pink. Discard any clams that haven't opened. Finish with a handful of freshly chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.7
Bring the cataplana straight to the table and serve with crusty bread or boiled potatoes to soak up every drop of the incredible broth.User Reviews
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