When I saw this traditional Catalan recipe for chicken and shrimp, I knew I just had to make it. Mar i muntanya (surf and turf) is a typical concept in Catalan cuisine and combines the wonders of Catalan geography--amazing seafood and delicious mountain fare.
If you're looking for other Spanish shrimp recipes, don't miss these fantastic ones for shrimp skewers and tortillitas de camarones.
Introduction
In this amazing Catalan stew, then chicken and shrimp are slowly cooked to perfection and covered in a savory sauce enhanced with the traditional Catalan picada: a chopped-up mixture of fried almonds, garlic, and bread.
This was one of those dishes that I simply needed in my life, so with no plans to visit Catalonia anytime soon, I made my way over to the neighborhood market to grab the ingredients, and whipped up this tasty stew.
I know it might seem complicated, but I promise it's not hard! This mar i muntanya recipe was adapted from one on the Spanish food blog Mercado Calabajio, which is one of my favorite Spanish recipe blogs! Who knew that chicken and shrimp would make such a great match?
Ingredients
Curious what ingredients you need to make a batch of this flavorful Catalan mar i muntanya? There are a lot of things that go into this Spanish "surf and turf," but it's so delicious and is easy to prepare!
- Chicken: This wonderful stew uses a whole chicken for the chicken broth and the stew itself. It's the "turf" part of the mar i muntanya.
- Shrimp: Adding a few gambas, or shrimp, brings the "surf" to the "turf" and tastes delicious in this tomato sauce.
- Langoustines: If you have the budget, I like to add delicious cigalas, or langoustines. These are not to be confused with Spanish langostinos, which are confusingly jumbo prawns.
- Veggies: A mixture of carrot, onion, leek, garlic, bay leaf, and parsley gets simmered with the chicken stock to make it richly flavorful!
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Mar i Muntanya
If you’d like to see the full ingredients and instructions, scroll to the bottom of the post for the printable recipe card.
- Cut the chicken into 8 pieces, then place the carcass and wings into a pot. Cover with 12 ¾ cups of water, add the stock vegetables, and simmer for 1 ½ hours. (image 1)
- Strain the chicken stock and season it with salt to taste. (image 2)
- Brown the garlic and almonds in an oiled skillet until browned. Place in a bowl along with the toasted bread. (image 3)
- Season the raw chicken with salt and pepper, then brown it in the same oil on all sides. Don't worry about cooking the meat through at this stage. (image 4)
- Cook the onions in an oiled skillet until they're browned. (image 5)
- Add the grated tomato pulp and simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes. (image 6)
- Make the picada mixture by pulsing the browned almonds, garlic, and salt in a food processor until blended, then gradually add the bread one-quarter of a piece at a time. Set aside. (image 7)
- Deglaze the tomato and onion mixture with some of the chicken stock, then add the chicken and cover with the broth. (image 8)
- Simmer the chicken uncovered for an hour or so, or util it's cooked through. Add the picada during the last 15 minutes of cooking. (image 9)
- Remove the chicken, then add the shrimp and langoustines and cook for a couple of minutes. Set aside with the chicken. (image 10)
- Add salt and pepper to the sauce to taste, then spoon it over the cooked chicken and seafood on a serving plate. (image 11)
- Serve the mar i muntanya with boiled or fried potatoes and enjoy! (image 12)
Recipe FAQs
This dish originated in Catalonia, a region in northeast Spain along the Mediterranean coast. Its name literally means "sea and mountain," which would equate to "surf and turf" in English. The name refers to the shrimp and langoustines (from the mar, or ocean) and chicken (from the muntanya or mountain) that are served in a delicious tomato sauce.
Serve
This hearty Catalan stew doesn't need much to accompany it, but I always love serving it with some kind of potato! Either boiled potatoes like papas arrugadas, papas a lo pobre, or fried potatoes (either French fries or something like patatas bravas) taste wonderful with mar i muntanya.
Expert Tips
- Mar i muntanya isn't a quick recipe, but it isn't at all complicated. I highly recommend you make extra to have later.
- Don't forget a side of freshly fried potatoes like patatas bravas to mop up the extra sauce!
Mar i Muntanya Recipe (Catalan Chicken and Shrimp)
Ingredients
For the Stew
For the Chicken Stock (Makes about 10 Cups)
- 3 pound free-range chicken skin off, except on the wings
- 13 cups cold water
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 leek
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 bunch fresh parsley
- salt to taste
For the Picada
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves with the skin on
- 20 raw blanched almonds
- 2 slices hearty baguette bread toasted
For the Stew
- 12 raw whole shrimp or prawns
- 4 raw langoustines optional
- 2 large tomatoes grated, skins removed
- 2 sweet onions diced
- â…“ cup brandy
- salt and pepper to taste
- 10 cups chicken stock using the recipe below
Instructions
Making the Chicken Stock
- Cut the chicken into eight serving pieces (or get your butcher to do this). To make the chicken stock from scratch, use only the carcass and the wings for the broth. Reserve the lean meat for the main dish.
- Place the carcass and wings in a large pot, then cover with the cold water and add the vegetables. Bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer for about an hour and a half.
- Once the stock is cooked, strain it and add salt to taste.
Making the Picada
- Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a skillet, then lightly fry the almonds and whole garlic cloves with the skins on. Once they're golden brown, reserve them in a small bowl and keep the oil in the pan for later.
- Add the almonds, garlic, and pinch of salt to a food processor and pulse a few times until a paste starts to form. Add the toasted bread one-quarter of a slice at a time. You could also use a mortar and pestle, but it's a lot of work!
Cooking the Stew
- Season the reserved raw chicken with salt and pepper and place in the skillet with the reserved oil, browning on each side but not cooking it through.
- Add the diced onion to the oil and cook until browned, then add the brandy and reduce for a minute. Add the grated tomato pulp, discarding the juice, and simmer on low until the mixture is thickened but not dry, about 20 minutes.
- Deglaze the tomato and onion mixture with some of the chicken stock.
- Transfer the mixture into a large pot and add the browned chicken. Cover the chicken with the rest of the stock. (If there is still meat exposed, cover with extra water or fish bouillon.) Simmer uncovered on low heat for about 1 hour.
- During the last 15 minutes of cooking, add the picada mixture (the almond, garlic, and bread paste).
- After an hour of cooking, remove the chicken from the sauce and set aside on a large serving plate. If the sauce is too thin, turn up the heat for about 10 minutes so that some evaporates.
- While the sauce is cooking down, add the shrimp and langoustines and cook for a couple of minutes, then remove them and reserve them with the chicken. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as desired.
- Spoon the sauce over the chicken and shrimp on the serving plate. Serve alongside fried or boiled potatoes and enjoy!
Notes
- Mar i muntanya isn't a quick recipe, but it isn't at all complicated. I highly recommend you make extra to have later.
- Don't forget a side of freshly fried potatoes like patatas bravas to mop up the extra sauce!
Nutrition
Photography by Giulia Verdinelli
Carlos
I will share my grandma's recipe:
chiken (I recommend legs and chicken breast)
10 whole shrimp/prawns, uncooked
10 langoustines (optional), uncooked
2 Big tomatoes (juicy and grated)
1 big onion (2 or 3 small)
4 or 5 garlic cloves (depends if you like it more spice or not)
parsley
salt and pepper
virgin olive oil
chocolate 90% cocoa (or higher)
almonds or hazelnuts (7/8)
1 small piece of toasted bread
Instructions:
1- salt and peper the prawns and shrimps.
2- in a pan, fry the prawns and shrimps with olive oil (fried at taste, normaly 5 / 6 minutes is enough)
3- remove the prawns and shrimps and leave it for later.
4- Salt and pepper the chicken
5- In the same pan, with the same oil (filter it) fry the chicken, it's important to be the same olive oil we use to fry the prawns and shrimps for the chicken get a little bit the flavour of the shrimps.
6- remove the chicken
7- filter the oil and put it in a casserole.
8- cut the onion in a small pieces and start to fry it in the casserole... when it turn golden, add the tomato.
8.5- while evaporates the water of the tomato we prepare the "picada"
the garlic, parsley, tosted bread, 7 o 8 hazelnuts or almonds and smash it very well, when it's like a pasta we add the chocolate and smashed again to mix it with this "pasta"
9- when evaporates the water of the tomato we add the chichen, and 1/2 or 1 cup of water
10 - when the water almost evaporate we add the prawns and shrimps and the "picada". and wait a little bit to evaporate the water, it might be the case that you need more water. if this is the case, add boiling water and keep moving the sauce... taste the sauce to add more salt if it's needed.
11 - stop the fire and wait 5 minutes to serve.
The time expended in this recipe is about 2 hours, 2.5 hours.
Lauren Aloise
Wow-- will have to try this! Thank you so much!