LIFE BEYOND THE SOLE

 

Skate at the fish vendor in a local market.

I enjoy having pescatarian guests. They cause me to expand my fish cookery a little, moving beyond the standard sole, salmon and sardines. Although last week I never got an eel, this week I’ve landed a handsome skate (also known as ray or rajafish, raya in Spanish). 

Skate, not so common in your fish market, is a fine eating fish. Related to sharks, it doesn’t have true bones, but a cartilage structure with thin “slats” radiating from the center. These are the fins, usually called “wings,” a cartilage flap covered in flesh. 

Skate "wings," cleaned and ready to cook.

The wings can be cooked whole or cut into smaller pieces for frying or for adding to stews, rice or, as in this recipe, noodles. The flesh, once cooked, easily slides off the cartilage in thick shreds. Skate is not a delicate fish, neither in texture nor flavor. The texture is firm, a little chewy, like scallops or shrimp. The taste is also more like squid than like sole. 

It’s best to have a fishmonger skin and cut up the skate, but, if possible, save the trimmings to make a simple fish stock. Skate is prepared, famously, in the French manner with black butter sauce and capers or, Andalusian style, with a pimentón sauce. 

I'm cooking pieces of skate in a savory fideo noodle casserole that starts with a sofrito of onions and peppers and includes spring peas, artichokes and asparagus. 

Fideo noodles cook right in the pan with sofrito, vegetables and pieces of skate.

Saffron gives the noodles a golden hue.

Artichokes, peas and asparagus can be added to the noodles and fish.

Use a table knife to push the flesh off the struts of cartilage. 

Provide guests with a side dish for desperdicios,  the pieces of cartilage that are left after the flesh has been removed. 

Noodle Casserole with Skate

Cazuela de Fideos con Raya

Fideo noodles are short vermicelli that come in varying thickness from thinnest angel hair, #00, to gruesa, thick (#4). Use the thick kind for this recipe. If not available, use spaghetti broken into 2-inch lengths. Adjust cooking time to the time given on the fideo package. For instance, the pieces of fish will take about 10 minutes to cook in the broth. If the noodles take longer, add them before the fish. 

You can add shrimp, squid or clams to this noodle fish with the skate. If skate is not on your radar, make the fideo recipe with monkfish or other firm fish.

Cut skate wings into pieces.

Serves 4.

1  pound skate wings

Salt

¼ cup olive oil

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup peeled and chopped red bell pepper** (see below for how-to)

½ cup chopped green pepper

4 cloves garlic, chopped

½ cup grated or crushed tomatoes

½ teaspoon coarse salt

2 peppercorns

20 fried or toasted almonds

¼ teaspoon saffron threads

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

½ teaspoon cumin

¼ cup white wine

1 medium potato (4 ½ ounces)

1 large artichoke

4 cups fish stock or water

1 bay leaf

1 ½ cups (about 7 ½ ounces) #4 fideo noodles 

1 cup shelled peas

Asparagus spears, cooked (optional)

Chopped parsley or mint to garnish

Use scissors to trim the ragged edges of the wings. With a sharp knife, cut them between the “slats” into about 8 pieces. Salt the fish and allow it to come to room temperature.

Crush almonds in mortar.

Heat the oil in a cazuela or wide pan. Sauté the onion on medium heat until softened, 5 minutes. Add the two kinds of peppers and garlic. Sauté them 3 minutes. Add the grated tomatoes and fry 5 minutes.

Crush the coarse salt in a mortar with the peppercorns and almonds. Add the saffron, chopped parsley and cumin. Grind all of the ingredients as finely as possible. Stir in the wine and mix to a paste. Stir the mortar blend into the sofrito in the pan. 

Add noodles to the pan with vegetables.

Cut the potato into chunks and add to the pan with the stock or water and bay leaf. Taste for salt and add salt if needed (if using stock, salt may not be necessary).

Snap off outer leaves of the artichoke. Cut crosswise leaving the artichoke bottom and discarding the leaf tips. Cut the bottom into quarters, remove fuzzy choke. Add the quarters immediately to the liquid in the pan. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are partially cooked, 10 minutes. 

Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the fideo noodles to the pan with the peas. Cook 2 minutes. Add the pieces of fish to the pan. Lower the heat to medium. Cook 5 minutes. 

Turn the pieces of fish over. Cook until potatoes, fideos and fish are done, about 5 minutes longer. There should still be some liquid left, so the noodles are juicy. Allow the pan to set 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with parsley or mint.

**Yes, you can peel a bell pepper, whether to use raw or cooked. Use a vegetable peeler and remove skin. Where the peeler doesn't reach in the crevices, either leave the skin or segment the pepper in the folds and peel most of the inaccessible strips. 

More recipes with fideo noodles:

Scallop and Noodle Casserole.

Seafood and Pasta Paella (Fideuá).

Fideo Noodles with Tofu and Vegetables.

Shrimp and Fideo Noodle Salad.

Noodle Soup with Garnishes (Sopa de Picadillo).