Portuguese Dinner Party

Whether you’re entertaining a party or fixing up a meal at home, pick up cooking ingredients at Portugalia Marketplace, then follow the directions to make these three traditional Portuguese specialties from O Dinis chef Natalia Paiva-Neves, Sagres restaurant, and chef Mitch Mauricio of Agawam Hunt.

Natalia Paiva-Neves’ Tuna Salad

Purchase the tuna loins that come in the glass jars from Portugalia. Most of the time, people use chickpeas, but you can also use black-eyed peas. Paiva-Neves prefers soft-boiled eggs over hard-boiled, and if you want potatoes, you can boil them along with the eggs.

For the Vinaigrette 

1 tsp Portuguese crushed red pepper 

One small onion, minced

1 cup of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped 

1 cup olive oil 

½ cup red wine vinegar 

Mix all ingredients well to combine. 

For the Salad

1 jar of tuna bellies

1 can of chickpeas or black-eyed peas

2 soft-boiled eggs

Boiled potatoes (optional)

Assemble the tuna, chickpeas (or black-eyed peas), and potatoes (optional) in a bowl. Pour the vinaigrette over the ingredients. Finish with soft-boiled eggs on top with a dollop of crushed red pepper. Serve with great bread.

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Sagres Shrimp Mozambique

Sauce

2 tbsp Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne 

   Pepper Sauce

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp water

¼ papo seco roll or other white sandwich bread, 

   torn into small pieces

1 tbsp fresh, chopped parsley

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tsp paprika

½ tsp pepper

Shrimp

2 pounds extra large shrimp (21 to 25 per pound), 

   washed, peeled, deveined and tails removed

1 tsp salt, divided

½ tsp pepper

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1 cup dry white wine

2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

For the Sauce

Add all sauce ingredients into a food processor
and blend until smooth. Be sure to scrape down the sides with a spatula to fully combine.

For the Shrimp

Start by sprinkling shrimp with ½ tsp each of salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, then add onion, ½ teaspoon of salt and cook until translucent for five minutes.
Add chopped garlic until golden, then add wine and bring to a boil until it reduces to half. This should take 4 to 5 minutes. 

Next, add the shrimp and cook until they are pink and opaque for about 4 minutes. Stir in the butter and cook until melted, about 1 minute. Pour sauce over shrimp and season with salt and pepper and parsley to taste. Serve with white rice and fresh crusty Portuguese bread for dipping.

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Mitch Mauricio’s Fall River Stuffies

12 quahogs or 24 large littleneck clams (if not freshly dug, then visit Andrade’s Catch in Bristol)

1 dozen day-old papo seco rolls from Cunha’s Bakery, cubed or torn

½ cup milk

1 lb spicy chourico or linguica from Azores Market, ground in a food processor or finely chopped

¼ cup Portuguese olive oil

1 large Vidalia onion, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped or sliced

2 tbsp tomato puree

1–2 tbsp ‘pimenta moida,’ Portuguese fermented red pepper paste

2 cans of cheap beer

½ stick butter

½ bunch of parsley, sliced thin

4 egg yolks

Opening the quahogs while they are raw is incredibly difficult, but will always yield the best results because it prevents overcooking the clam meat and fresh clam juice. First, scrub the outside of the clams under cold water to remove any sand.

Gather a cutting board, a bowl for clam juice and meat, kitchen towel and cleaver. I like to make a circle with a damp kitchen towel, place it on a cutting board, then sit the clam lip up snug in the towel. Using a cleaver, very carefully push down to open the clams. When opened, pour the clam juice into the bowl, and use a clam knife or butter knife to shuck the clam meat out of the shell. On a clean cutting board, chop the clam meat into small pieces and put them in the clam juice. Set juice and clam meat in the fridge and scrub the empty shells under cold water again to remove any sand or mud. Store shells in the fridge as well.

Place cubed or torn bread in a bowl, pour milk over the bread to soak in. Set aside.

In a large Dutch oven, add the ground chourico and the olive oil. Set the heat to medium-high and render out the chourico until the olive oil has turned bright red. Add the garlic and onion; sweat until translucent. Add the tomato puree and the Portuguese red pepper paste to your liking, then reduce the heat to low and cook for a few minutes. Add the beer and butter, bring to a boil, then simmer for a few minutes. Shut off the heat, and add the raw chopped clams, the reserved fresh clam juice and parsley. Stir a few times, then pour in bread. Add in the egg yolks. Stir a few times more to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Scoop the stuffing mixture into the clean quahog shells. Cook in a 400-degree oven for 15–20 minutes, or until toasty and delicious.