There are many ways to make Paella. It is fun to make it a little different each time you cook a Paella. I love cooking Paella outdoors. I have a Paella burner that hooks up to my house gas line. You can also use Paella burners with a propane tank. In the winter I cook my Paella on the stove cook top.
Ingredients for eight servings
- Olive oil two – three TBS
- Red Bell Pepper – cut into thin strips
- Chicken drummettes – one per person*
- Garlic cloves 2 heads, cloves with skin
- Chorizo Bilbao 4 (Spanish Table) – sliced into ¼ inch
- One large tomato diced or one 14 oz can diced
- One medium onion chopped
- Clams – 12 (24 if leaving out mussels)
- Rock Fish (Snapper) – 1 lb cut into chunks, 2 inch square
- Mussels – 18
- Calamari rings and tentacles – 3/4 lb (leave out if using rock fish).
- Shrimp – 16 jumbo shrimp
- Peas Frozen – 8 oz
- Smoked Paprika – 4 teaspoons (Can leave out if less smoky taste)
- Teaspoon of Saffron
- Valencia Rice – 1/2 cup per person – 1/3 if you using Bomba rice**
- Chicken broth – 1 cup per rice cooking instructions
- Lemon wedges
- Olive oil
Instructions
- Saute red bell peppers in a couple in the olive oil until limp. Remove and set aside
- Saute Chorizo, remove and set aside
- Toss whole garlic into the pan
- Saute onion and tomato, until almost a paste. 15 minutes
- Add back Chorizo and chicken
- Add broth and bring to good simmer
- Add saffron and paprika mixture***
- Add rice and stir
- Bring to boil and scrape bottom
- Nice simmer and no stirring from this point
- When paella is soupy add the clams, mussels, calamari, or fish
- When paella is about done add shrimp tucking down, peas, and strips of red pepper
- Turn over the shrimp to color and cook
- Place red pepper strips in circles around the dish
- Squeeze lemon out of wedges and place lemons on paella.
- Let rest for ten minutes
* I am always a little cautious with chicken so before hand, I season the chicken and cook it in the oven for 25 minutes at 375 degrees. So it is almost cooked when I add in to the cooking Paella.
** I use Bomba rice. It is a little more expansive and sometimes are to find at the stores. You can order it online. My Dad also loved cooking Paella but he used good old long grain rice, go figure!
*** I soak the Saffron in about a 1/4 cup of white dry wine for about an hour.
