Rich with deep, toasted flavors, Sopa Seca de Fideos is a Spanish and Latin American classic done with weeknight speed. Sautéed in the pan until crispy and golden, the pasta then blends with a flavorful tomato-based sauce. Cooked until the pasta soaks up the sauce, you’d never guess you could extract so much flavor out of so few ingredients.
Sopa Seca de Fideos means dry soup with noodles in Spanish. In Mexico and the US, fideos are generally served in a brothy-like soup-stew, but in Spain’s region of Catalonia, the noodles are cooked down with a tomato sauce until it transforms into a thickened texture that sticks to every surface of the fideos. Here we’re using Spain’s approach to cooking fideos, which means that the noodles are boiled directly with the sauce.
The ingredient list is short and sweet, but this doesn’t mean that the Sopa Seca de Fideos recipe lacks flavor. Traditionally, this dish is made with a special pasta called fideos, which is like a thin, golden pasta in short lengths. If you don’t have access to this pasta, don’t worry, you can simply buy angel hair pasta and break it up into small 1 to 2-inch strips.
With a bit of olive oil in a pan, sauté the pasta until most of the pasta is a deep amber color. There might be some more toasty, darker pieces, but don’t worry, the toasted pasta tastes equally wonderful and will absorb all of the ingredients.
Next, you add in all of the other ingredients. Diced onions, chipotle powder, cumin, and garlic get tossed in alongside tomato puree and a bit of water. Stir it all together and let everything come to a boil, reduce to a simmer and stir frequently.
You’ll know it’s done when the pasta is cooked through and the sauce reduces. It’ll have a very thick consistency.
Garnished with some avocados and some of the reserved chopped onions brightens up the flavors of the fideos. If you want a stronger flavor from the garnishes, you can also serve it with a bit of lime zest or chopped-up cilantro. For fideos a-la-Spain some chopped olives would also fit right in with this dish.
Sopa Seca De Fideos (Dry Soup Pasta)
Allergens: Gluten
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb angel hair pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped, reserve some for garnish if desired
- 3 teaspoons chipotle powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cups tomato puree
- 2 cups water
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- Avocado, cut into chunks (for garnish)
Preparation
- Over a large bowl, break angel hair pasta into small 1 to 2-inch segments, set aside.
- In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add in broken up angel hair and stir to distribute the angel hair into one even layer. Let pasta cook untouched for 4 minutes. Don’t stir the pasta too much, you want it to get dark brown. Stir to cook the other sides, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add onion, chipotle powder, cumin, garlic powder, tomato puree, and water, stirring to combine.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, stirring frequently until pasta is cooked through and the onions are translucent, about 15 minutes.
- Serve with avocado and reserved onions and enjoy.
Recipe adapted from Mexican Made Meatless