Seafood Paella

Paella is a saffron rice dish made in a pan with some sort of meat cooked with it. It is absolutely delicious!!

Paella originates from Valencia, Spain. The word Paella means frying pan in Valencian. Paella was originally made with whatever was on hand. People often used tomatoes, snails, onions, sometimes duck or rabbit, and on special occasions saffron was added.

There are two main versions of Paella. Paella Valenciana is made with rabbit, chicken, sometimes duck, beans and green vegetables. While Paella de Marisco is made with seafood and without the beans and green vegetables. The recipe I have included is for Paella de Marisco.

The Recipe

This recipe will make approximately six servings.

• 4+1/2 cups of chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon of saffron threads, loosely measured
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 a yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 cups of uncooked rice or 3 cups of cooked rice (see recipe directions)
• 1 small roasted tomato ( I just held mine over my gas stove)
• 1/4 cup of parsley, for garnish
• 54 ounces (3.375 pounds) of uncooked seafood, I used a mixed bag of shrimp (peeled), calamari, scallops, and mussels. You can also exchange a bit of the seafood for some chorizo sausage.

Making the Seafood Paella

Preheat yor oven to 350°.

In a pot bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add the saffron and the salt. Turn off the stove and let the saffron steep for 15 minutes. Taste, add more salt if needed.

Heat oil in a 12-14 inch cast iron pan or frying pan on medium heat. Add the onion and cook for around 6 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Stir in the garlic and the chorizo (if you decided to use this).

Add the rice to the mixture and cook for 4 minutes, stirring often. (This is where I majorly messed up on the recipe, I added cooked rice instead of uncooked rice. The recipe still worked, but I ended up with way too much liquid at the end, which I had to cook off and then drain. I suggest using uncooked rice when you make it, but if you decide to use cooked rice, cut back on the amount of broth you use).

Add the chicken stock and tomatoes to the pot. Once again, taste the mixture and add salt if needed. Let simmer on the stove for 15 minutes without stirring. (If you used uncooked rice, it may look dry. You can pour 1 cup of hot water over the mixture, but do not stir.)

Nestle whatever seafood you are using into the rice. (If you are using mussels, lay them sideways so that their juices can run into the rice). Cover the pan with a lid or foil and place in the oven for around 10 minutes. Depending on what kind of seafood you are using, it may need more time in the oven. (The mussels will be done when they open, at the end toss out all the mussels that did not open).

Pull it out of the oven use a spatula to scoop up some of it, to see if it has a nice crispy browned bottom. If not, you can set the pan over medium heat on the stove to caramelize the bottom. Sprinkle with parsley and serve!

Enjoy!

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If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment section below.