At 32, Chef Marc Vidal has already built an impressive culinary résumé working with some of the world’s most respected chefs. Recognized among Spain’s top young chefs in 2005, Vidal trained at the Escuela de Restauración y Hotelería de Barcelona, earning two culinary degrees. He refined his skills under Ferrán Adrià in Spain and with Alain Passard and Alain Ducasse in Paris. Now the executive chef at Solea in the W South Beach, Vidal draws on authentic Spanish ingredients and soulful flavors to create vibrant dishes that celebrate his homeland.
Valencia Paella Serves 1
Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 leek, sliced
4 large tomatoes, quartered
2 pounds fish bones (from a flat fish such as snapper)
½ cup white wine
3 clams
3 mussels
3 shrimp
1 tablespoon olive oil (for the paella pan)
¼ chicken, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon sofrito (see recipe below)
½ cup Calasparra rice, uncooked
Salt, to taste
Preparation:
Pour enough olive oil into a large pot to lightly coat the bottom. Add the diced onion, carrot and sliced leek and sauté until softened. Add the quartered tomatoes and the fish bones. Pour in the white wine and reduce by half. Cover with water and simmer for 45 minutes to make a light fish stock. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, then strain the stock through a fine sieve or chinoise and reserve the liquid.
Clean the clams and mussels thoroughly, then let them soak in ice water with plenty of salt to purge any sand.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a paella pan. Add the chicken pieces and sear until golden brown. Add the clams, mussels and shrimp and cook until the shellfish open. Remove the chicken, clams, mussels and shrimp from the pan and set aside.
Add the sofrito and the Calasparra rice to the paella pan and sauté for about 1 minute to toast the rice slightly. Add enough reserved fish stock to cover the rice and cook on high for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat, return the chicken, clams, mussels and shrimp to the pan, season with salt, and cook gently for another 5 minutes over a low flame. Transfer the pan to a 350°F oven for about 5 minutes, or until the rice has dried slightly and the flavors meld. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
For the sofrito:
Ingredients:
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
3 tomatoes, finely chopped
Combine the onion, garlic and tomatoes in a small pot and cook over low heat for about 90 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is deeply reduced and concentrated in flavor. Use this sofrito as the foundational base for the paella and other Spanish dishes.
Solea
W South Beach
2201 Collins Ave.
Miami Beach, FL 33139
tel 305 938 3111