Seafood Paella
From teqp 16 years agoIngredients
- • 1/3 lb. shrimp, peeled (reserve the shells for broth or use chicken broth) shopping list
- • Pinch of saffron threads shopping list
- • salt to taste shopping list
- • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil shopping list
- • 1/3 lb. scallops (or calamari, cut in rings) shopping list
- • 1/2 onion, grated on the largest holes of a box grater shopping list
- • 3-6 garlic cloves, peeled shopping list
- • peas (as many as you like) shopping list
- • 1-2 ripe tomatoes, halved and grated on the largest holes of a box grater (discard the skin) shopping list
- • 2-1 1/2 cups medium grain rice shopping list
- • Andouille sausage shopping list
- • paprika shopping list
- • 8 small mussels or clams (1/2 lb.), scrubbed shopping list
- • 1 lemon, cut in wedges for garnish shopping list
How to make it
- This paella is good when served with lemon wedges, but it's even better when spread with a bit of alioli, a garlic mayonnaise that is the Spanish version of the French aioli. To make alioli, add a few cloves of chopped garlic and a large pinch of salt to a mini-food processor (or a mortar), process (or pound with a pestle) until very fine, and then slowly drizzle in olive oil to make a thick, mayonnaise-like consistency. Add lemon juice to taste, and process again.
- In a medium saucepan, boil 3 1/2 cups of salted water. Add the shrimp shells and simmer, covered, for about 10 min. Strain the broth, and return it to the saucepan. Toast the saffron gently (in a dry skillet or toaster oven), crush the threads with the back of a spoon, and add to the shrimp shell broth. Taste for salt; the broth should be well-seasoned.
- In a 14-inch paella pan or wide skillet, heat the oil on high. Meanwhile, pat dry the shrimp and scallops (or calamari). When the oil is hot, sauté the shrimp and scallops until almost cooked through, about 2 min. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add the sausage links and brown. Cut the sausages into slices and set aside. Drain out excess oil but don’t clean the pan. Pour out all but 1 Tbs. of oil from the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté the onion and garlic until the onion softens, about 5 min. Add the tomato, season with salt, and sauté until the mixture, called the sofrito, has darkened (caramelizes) and is a thick purée, 10 to 15 min. Season with salt, black pepper, and paprika.
- Meanwhile, bring the shrimp shell broth back to a simmer. When the tomato-onion sofrito is ready, add the rice to the pan. Sauté until the rice loses its opaqueness, about 1 min. Increase the heat to medium-high. Pour in 3 cups of the simmering broth (reserving the remaining 1/2 cup) and stir or shake the pan to evenly distribute the rice in the pan. As the liquid comes to a boil, arrange the mussels or clams in the pan, submerging them as much as possible below the level of the liquid. From this point on, do not stir the rice.
- Cook the paella on medium-high, rotating and moving the pan over one or two burners to distribute the heat. When the rice begins to appear above the liquid, after 8 to 10 min., reduce the heat to medium low. Continue to simmer, rotating the pan as necessary, until the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 min. more. Taste a grain of rice just below the top layer; it should be al dente. (If the rice is not done but all the liquid has been absorbed, sprinkle a bit of hot broth to the pan and cook a few minutes more.) Arrange the shrimp and scallops (or calamari) in the pan. Add the shellfish and the sausage. Simmer, without stirring, until the rice is al dente and the mussels/clams have opened. (Do not eat any mussels/clams that do not open.) Scatter the peas on top and continue to cook until the liquid is absorbed.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and cook gently for another 2 min. to help ensure that the top layer of rice is evenly cooked. With the foil still in place, increase the heat to medium-high and, rotating the pan, cook for about 2 min., until the bottom layer of rice starts to caramelize, creating the socarrat. The ideal paella has a toasted rice bottom called socarrat. The rice may crackle somewhat, but if it starts burning, remove the pan from the heat immediately.
- Let the paella rest off the heat, still covered, for 5 min.
- Bring the pan to the table for presentation and enjoy!
- This recipe is a compilation of various recipes that I have tried and it tastes good. It also works well with chicken and rabbit.
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