paella

Easy: **1/2
Tasty: ****1/2

John prepared another delicious meal tonight - Paella. It was so delicious, a great way to eat seafood. We used shrimp, scallops, and mussels; but you can also use squuid tubes, fish, chicken, or any combination of ingredients.

Paella

1 red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, pureed (skin discarded)
2 tablespoons paprika
1 lb mussels, scrubbed and debearded
½ lb shrimp
½ lb bay scallops
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1½ cups white rice
1 packet of yellow rice flavoring & coloring (available in the ethnic food aisle)
3 cups chicken stock or broth
extra virgin olive oil
½ cup water
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
½ cup frozen green peas, defrosted
lemon wedges


Start by making the sofrito. Heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in the paella pan over a medium heat and cook the chopped red onion, cilantro and 3 of the chopped garlic cloves for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the pureed tomatoes and 2 teaspoons of paprika and cook until all the liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated and the sofrito has the consistency of jam. Transfer the sofrito to a small bowl and wipe clean the paella pan.

While the sofrito is cooking, place the mussels in a saucepan with half a cup of simmering water. Cover and steam on a low heat for 5 minutes. Remove mussels and set aside, discarding any that haven't opened.

Heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in the paella pan over a medium-high heat. Add the remaining clove of chopped garlic and the shrimp and cook for 1½ minutes, tossing continuously. Add the scallops and cook for a further 1½ minutes. Remove the shrimp and scallops from the paella pan and lightly season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in the paella pan over a medium heat and cook the diced red and green peppers for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the sofrito back to the pan along with 1½ cups of rice and yellow rice flavoring and cook for a minute, stirring to coat the grains.

Add 3 cups of heated chicken stock, 1½ teaspoons sea salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine, and bring to a rolling simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, uncovered without stirring. (To make sure the rice cooks evenly you will need to regularly move the paella pan around the heat source, or you can straddle the paella pan over two burners.)

Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for a further 15 minutes without stirring. After 15 minutes, turn the heat up to medium-high for a minute or so until you can smell the rice toasting at the bottom, then remove the paella pan from the heat. (The toasted rice bottom of a paella is called socorrat and is highly prized.)

Push the reserved shrimp, mussels and squid into the cooked rice, and scatter with half a cup of defrosted green peas. Cover the pan with foil or a clean cloth, and let the paella rest for 5 minutes.

Present the paella in the pan at the table with lemon wedges on the side for drizzling.


(adapted from mediterrasian.com)