Want: Israeli seafood paella

If you want to eat unbelievably good Israeli food, go to NENI. You can find it in Berlin and Vienna, among other places, but soon also right here in Amsterdam. And if that’s still too far away for you, you can already recreate the recipes at home with their first cookbook: NENI’s Tel Aviv. And you have paella, but you also have Israeli seafood paella. And believe us, you want this.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (fan). For the croutons, tear the bread into coarse pieces. Mix the pieces of bread with both the za’atar spice blend and the olive oil on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake them in the oven for approx. 15 min., until the croutons are golden brown and crispy. Remove them from the oven and set them aside for a moment.

2. Marinate the za’atar while the bread is in the oven. Peel the onion and cut it into thin rings. Strip the za’atar leaves from the stem. Mix both ingredients with the sumac, lemon juice, olive oil and salt in a bowl. Leave to infuse for at least 10 min.

3. For the braised tomatoes, increase the oven temperature to 250 °C (grill function). Cut the tomatoes into four wedges. Peel the garlic. Arrange these ingredients together on a baking tray lined with baking paper and grill them in the oven for 20 min., so that the tomatoes still retain some of their moisture. Remove the baking tray from the oven and set it aside for a moment.

4. Clean the calamari and king prawns. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan. Then add the seafood to the pan. Turn them after 1 to 2 min. Grill them for another 1 to 2 min., then remove them from the pan (the prawns are ready as soon as they turn pink. The calamari are ready when they turn light brown).

5. Break the feta into coarse chunks. Cut the lime into four pieces. Place the braised tomatoes on and around the seafood and croutons. Also add the feta and lime wedges. Finally, garnish the dishes with the fresh za’atar and sumac.

Title: Neni’s Tel Aviv
Author: Neni
Publisher: Terra
Price: €29,99