Spanish Paella
Paella! This famous saffron infused rice dish is a traditional Spanish recipe that comes fully loaded with seafood or anything your heart desires! You don’t need a paella pan to cook paella, any skillet or even a large pot will do, and it’s surprisingly straightforward to make. Terrific festive party food! If you’ve always wanted to but been too afraid to try Paella, I can assure you – there is no reason to be scared! If you approach it the right way – and I like to keep my recipes as risk free as possible – you will end up with rice that’s cooked exactly to your taste in a saffron infused, flavour loaded sauce with all your seafood cooked to perfection. No overcooked seafood, and no mushy rice around here!
The beauty of paella is that it is in fact extremely flexible. Don’t get too hung up about getting the exact seafood I use. Don’t listen to the authors who tell you that you must use homemade fish broth or buy extremely expensive seafood stock. Paella, whether it be for a quick midweek meal or a large festive gathering, is meant to be relaxed and fun, not stressful with strict rules.
Ingredients:
- 1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
- 7 oz / 200g chorizo (2 pieces) , sliced 1/2 cm / 1/5" thick
- 200g / 6 oz squid (calamari) , cut into 7mm / 1/4" thick rings
- 1 onion , diced (brown, white, yellow)
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 red capsicum / bell pepper , diced
- 1 1/2 cups paella rice ("Bomba", "Valencia" or "Calasparra" rice)
- 2 juicy ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced OR 3/4 cup canned crushed tomato
- 300g / 10 oz chicken thigh fillets , cut into 1.5" / 3.5cm pieces
- 3 1/2 cups chicken broth/stock (not low sodium) or homemade seafood broth
- 1 tsp saffron threads (or 1/4 tsp ground saffron)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 12- 16 medium / large prawns , whole (shell on)
- 12 large mussels , cleaned & check freshness
- Fresh parsley , chopped
- 2 Lemons , cut into wedges