Portuguese Seafood & Fish Cataplana
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Cataplana is both the name of the meal and the unique Portuguese vessel it's cooked in. This recipe includes fish and seafood cooked slowly to perfection.
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Portugal
Serves: 6 Servings
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs or 900 g clams
  • 2 lbs or 900 g black tiger shrimp
  • 3¼ lbs or 1.6 kg large grouper steaks, about 1 inch thick (you can use other types of fish such as fresh conger or perch)
  • 8 medium size potatoes, peeled and sliced into ½ inch wheels
  • 1 medium cooking onion, peeled, thinly sliced and taken apart into onion rings
  • 5 cloves garlic roughly chopped
  • 2 medium size tomatoes, peeled and sliced in ½ inch wheels
  • 1 red pepper diced
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 Tbs course sea salt
  • 8 sprigs of large leaf (Italian) parsley
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ¾ cups white wine
  • 2 Tbs tomato paste
  • 4 sprigs of parsley for garnish
Instructions
  1. Drizzle and spread around ½ the oil on the bottom of the cataplana.
  2. Spread ½ the clams on the bottom of the cataplana.
  3. Spread ½ the onions slice evenly over the clams.
  4. Place one full layer of potato slices over the onions.
  5. Place ½ the fish steaks over the potatoes.
  6. Sprinkle ½ the salt evenly over the fish.
  7. Sprinkle ½ the garlic evenly over the fish.
  8. Place ½ the sprigs of parsley evenly over the fish.
  9. Spread ½ the shrimp evenly over the fish.
  10. Layer ½ the tomato slices over the shrimp and fish.
  11. Spread ½ the diced red pepper over the tomato slices.
  12. Next, layer the remaining onion slices.
  13. Layer remaining potato slices over the onions.
  14. Place remaining fish steaks over the potatoes.
  15. Sprinkle remaining salt evenly over the fish.
  16. Sprinkle remaining garlic evenly over the fish.
  17. Place remaining sprigs of parsley evenly over the fish.
  18. Spread ¼ of the shrimp evenly over the fish.
  19. Layer remaining tomato slices over the shrimp and fish.
  20. For the last layer, spread around the remaining shrimps, clams and diced red pepper.
  21. In a small bowl, dissolve the tomato paste in the wine and pour it evenly over top.
  22. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over top of the entire mix.
  23. Place the lid over the cataplana and lock in place.
  24. Place the cataplana on the burner at medium high for 15 minutes. You should hear the liquids bubbling inside.
  25. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook for 30 minutes.
  26. Carefully (the vessel is hot and will release very hot steam) unlock and open the lid. With a fork, poke one of the potato slices. If the fork pokes through easily, your cataplana is ready. If the potato is still a touch hard, lock the lid and continue to cook another 5 minutes on medium high or until the potato is tender.
  27. Serve the cataplana hot and enjoy!
  28. To impress your guests, place the cataplana on the table on a protective surface. Unlock and open the lid and then slide the lid out of the pin. Place the fresh sprigs of parsley on over the dish.
Notes
Feel free to replace the fish we recommend with any other favourite fish or the order of the layers! Cataplana recipes are flexible. Play around with the ingredients to create your own delicious version of Cataplana.


If you don't have a cataplana vessel, you can still make this dish in a wide pot with a tight lid. Adjust timing accordingly.


For this recipe, we used a 14" or 36 cm cataplana. If you have a smaller cataplana, reduce the ingredients by half.
Recipe by Photos & Food at https://www.photosandfood.ca/2016/05/29/portuguese-seafood-fish-cataplana/