Paella
Think of paella as the ultimate Spanish comfort food, a big, vibrant, shareable rice feast that is basically a party in a pan.
At its core, it’s a canvas of short-grain rice cooked in a rich, flavorful broth, infused with saffron (which gives it that gorgeous yellow color), and topped with whatever looks good that day. It can be loaded with land meats like chicken and rabbit, packed with seafood like shrimp and mussels, or a "mixed" combination of both.
The absolute best part? The socarrat. That’s the crispy, caramelized layer of rice that forms at the very bottom of the pan. If you're eating paella with locals, everyone will be scraping the bottom to get a piece of that golden crust.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 onions, diced
- 2 bell peppers, diced (I like to use ½ red and ½ green)
- 8 cloves garlic
- 6 roma tomatoes, very finely diced (or 8 oz. tomato sauce)
- Bay leaf
- 2 teaspoon paprika, sweet or smoked
- 2 pinch saffron threads
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 pound scallops
- 8 chicken wing drummettes
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
- 4 cups yellow saffron rice
- 10 cups chicken Broth
- 1 lb jumbo shrimp or prawns, about 12 – peeled, tailed
- 1 lb mussels (about 20), cleaned properly (beards off)
- 1 can smoked oysters
- lemons, for garnish
Method
- 1
Prepare the Vegetables
- 2
Brown the Chicken
- 3
Prepare the Broth
- 4
Combine the Ingredients: Return the vegetable mixture to the pan with the broth. Add the rice, saffron threads, paprika, bay leaf, and white wine. Stir to combine.
- 5
Cook the Paella: Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pan with a lid or foil and cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked and has absorbed most of the liquid. You may need to add more broth or water if the rice looks too dry