How to cook with fregola

Fregola is a type of pasta very similar to couscous, made with durum wheat and semolina flour. It is often called Sardinian couscous and is a great base for pasta and salads. This recipe is from our regular Monday cooking lesson  live with our cook from Italy.

FREGOLA  AI FRUTTI DI MARE  (fregola pasta with seafood)

This recipe serves 3

You will need:

• 300g fregola
• 2 garlic cloves
• wild fennel
• 50g dried tomatoes
• 1 saffron sachet
• parsley
• 12 prawns
• 1 calamari
• 300g mussels
• 300g clams
• 1 Litre fumetto di pesce (fish stock)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Black pepper
• 1/2 glass of white wine

Method

1. Wash and clean the mussels.
2. Wash the clams, keeping them in salted water for at least 30 minutes. This way they will open and they will release any sand contained.
3. Clean the prawns, taking off the heads and the shells. Keep the heads and shells to one side as these will be used for the stock.
4. To make a good “fumetto di pesce” (fish stock), use the heads and shells of the prawns.
5. In a pan soften a garlic clove with some olive oil, then add the prawn heads and shells, some parsley and wild fennel.
6. When the shells start releasing their liquid add some ice cubes.
7. This way the fish flavours will be extracted better.
8. When the ice is melted add the diluted saffron.
9. Wash the calamari and slice them thin.
10. In a pan, cook the mussels and clams covered with a lid.
11. When they are cooked, remove some of the seafood from their shells, keeping just some with the shell. Now filter the sea water they have released using a strainer and add it to the rest of the stock.
12. Dice the sun-dried tomatoes and parsley very small.
13. In the same pan where you have cooked the seafood, add a garlic clove and some olive oil and the dried tomatoes.
14. Now add the calamari, cook them for a few minutes and add the fregola.
15. Toast it as if it was a risotto add some white wine and when the alcohol has evaporated start adding some stock.
16. Let the fregola cook, adding the stock little by little.
17. When it is almost cooked add the prawns, the seafood without the shells and some parsley.
18. Add salt and pepper to taste. (the fish stock will be quite salty already.)

Serve hot, decorating it with the remaining muscles and clams in their shells.

Enjoy it!