Spanish style Tomato Fideuà

Instructions

• In a heavy bottomed, non-stick saute pan or cast iron skillet, add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and heat to medium. Saute the red onion, garlic and pepper until soft and translucent but not brown, about 4 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste and stir well. Reduce to medium-low heat and cook until the tomato paste begins to darken in color, about 3 minutes.
• Add the harissa paste, cumin, paprika and 1 tsp of salt. Cook for additional 2 minutes until fragrant, stirring constantly.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until the sauce results in a marmalade-like consistency, about 5-10 minutes. Set aside.
• In the same pan or cast iron skillet, add remaining vegetable oil and increase the heat to medium.
• Add the raw fideos noodles and toss them in the oil using tongs. The fideos will begin to toast and brown. Cook, tossing frequently until the noodles are dark golden brown and crisp, about 4-6 minutes.
• Add the tomato mixture to the toasted fideos and toss with tongs to coat the noodles.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and add 1 3/4 cup of vegetable broth. Stir well once and wait until the mixture has reduced until almost. Taste the noodles, they should still have a good bite to them. Add the remaining broth and completely reduce, about 10-15 minutes. The bottom of the noodles will brown, but keep a close eye on them to ensure they don’t burn! The easiest way to check is to use a spatula to peek.
• Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.
• Serve with the Fideos and grilled vegetable of choice (if desired) that have been also been garnished with the juice of 1 lime and some of the cilantro and scallion mixture.