Recipes from the Algarve - Cataplana

Ingredients: (6 servings)
3 medium Spanish onions thinly sliced
3 cloves of crushed garlic
2 green bell peppers cut into small strips
Olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 lb tinned plum tomatoes
1/4 lb smoked ham, diced
2 oz. prosciutto ham, diced
1/4 lb portuguese sausage (or any other chorizo style sausage)
Small glass dry white wine
3 lb / 4 dozen fresh small clams in the shell, rinsed.
Some fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
Paprika / and or ground chili pepper

Cook the onions, garlic, and green peppers in the olive oil over a gentle heat until onions are golden. Add the bay leaf and the tomatoes, keep a quarter of their juice. Bring to 'simmering', then cover and reduce the heat to enable the sauce to cook slowly for 30 minutes. Then add the remaining tomato juice, the prosciutto, the smoked ham, and the chorizo. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes. Season with paprika or chili pepper

Spoon half the sauce into the bottom of the cataplana dish (or a similar style heavy pan with a lid), then lay the clams on top. Add the remaining sauce and the wine, cover tightly, cook for 15 minutes over a gentle heat, do not open.

Add parsley to decorate. Eat with fresh bread


Other Recipes from the Algarve
Sopa da Pedra
Sweet Rice Pudding
Pudim Flan
Dom Rodrigos
Broad beans - Algarve Style
"Fig" Cheese