Paella Recipe
Our beloved paella, is more an institution than a simple recipe in Spain. Probably one of our most international and well know dishes, it isn’t just a dish, it is an excuse to get together with friends and family and enjoy a great lunch, combined with sangria, and followed by a siesta. I would encourage you to try to cook it at home, because it is at home where you will cook the best paella and like mostly everything in life, the more often you do it, the better you’ll get!
Serves 10
Preparation Time: Approximately 2 hours.
Ingredients:
5 cups of rice (preferably “Calasparra Rice” or risotto style)
6 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic
1 onion, white
2 medium green capsicums
2 medium sweet red capsicums
3 good size tomatoes, very ripe
1 cup of green beans
2 medium sized calamari
700 grams Of Chicken
it’s ideal is to have a just a bit of breast meat, and 2/3 of the chicken to be thighs and wings
1 chorizo sausage
300 grams of pork or beef (optional)
1 cup of pipis
2 medium pieces of fresh fish e.g. trevally fillets.
The fish has to be the kind of fish that doesn’t break easily when cooked
20 mussels
1 teaspoon of Saffron
30 banana prawns
Salt & Pepper
14 cups of fish stock
Parsley
Preparation:
1. In a good quality “Paella Dish”, heat the olive oil and fry the chicken, chopped chorizo and the meat. When golden and crispy, put aside on a plate. (We will add this when the paella is nearly cooked)
2. In the same pan, fry the onion, garlic and both green and red capsicum. When the onion is transparent, add the fresh tomatoes and leave to cook for a while. Add the green beans.
3. Add the rice and make sure you don’t stir too much, otherwise it becomes become a sticky paste. Fry the rice on a medium heat.
4. To get the calamari ready we need to wash it and get rid off the bony bits, cartilage, etc. When this is done, place the calamari in boiling water, we will cut it when it is cooked. Add some onion to increase the flavour and leave to boil for 10-15 minutes or until you feel that the calamari is soft. We will use the liquid as a stock.
Mix the saffron into a cup of stock and the colour and aroma of the Saffron will become more intense, add it to the pan and turn the gas to low.
5. Add salt & pepper and when you taste the stock make sure it tastes a bit salty. The ingredients will absorb the saltiness to produce a perfect paella, otherwise it would be tasteless.
6. Add the chicken, meat (optional), prawns, fish (cut into thin pieces) and pipis (these need to be soaked in water a few hours or overnight to eliminate any sand).
7. Cover the pan with a damp cloth or foil and turn the gas to very low. Have a look now and then to make sure that it is not sticking or needs more stock. When the rice has become dry, test it to make sure is not hard. If still hard, add more stock but always make sure that you don’t add too much. Even when you turn the gas off it will continue cooking with the remaining heat and, if you add too much stock, the rice will become like a paste.
8. When the rice is done, take it off the heat and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Uncover and decorate with the chopped parsley and …Buen Provecho!
Suggestions: -
The meat is optional; it will give flavour to the dish. You can use pork, beef or any kind of sausage.
The saffron: If you are lucky enough to find very fresh saffron with a lot of aroma, the colour and taste of your paella will be wonderful and you will only need a teaspoon. If you can’t smell the saffron, try mixing it with a bit of colorants (fake saffron) to give the dish a more vibrant colour.
