A gorgeous Spanish dish! Paella seems so intimidating. I tried making it for the first time yesterday and I have to say... it's really not that hard! If you have good quality ingredients & a good paella pan, you're golden. my take on it is a little spicy & packed with incredible flavor.
Time: 45 mins, serves 2
Ingredients:
- 2-3 cups jumbo shrimp, peeled & deviened, tail on
- 2-3 cups cooked mussels (can use uncooked but it's a pain to wash & takes longer to cook)
- 1 cup paella rice (can substitute any short grain rice)
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes & green chilies (this is where the spice comes in, if you don't want it spicy you can use plain canned diced tomatoes)
- 1 cup fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon saffron threads
- 1/2 cup sweet green peas
- 3 cups chicken stock (can use 1 chicken boullion cube with 3 cups of water)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1.5 tablespoons safflower oil (or any high-heat oil)
- 1/2 lemon
Recipe:
Tip: The best way to do this is to get a Paella pan. To serve 2 people, I bought a 13.5 inch paella pan from Amazon. Worked wonders!
- Heat the oil & onion in the paella pan on medium heat. After 30 seconds, add the garlic, then give it another 30 seconds before adding the tomatoes.
- Pour in the paella rice & toss to combine.
- Sprinkle on the smoked paprika & the saffron, then add the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover. I used my pizza stone to cover the paella pan because I don't have a large enough pan cover. Reduce the heat to let the mixture simmer while it's covered.
- After about 20 minutes, uncover the pan & use a spatula to stir. You may notice some rice sticking to the bottom of the pan, that's okay. Paella should have a nice crust at the bottom. Not a thick crust, but a nice crunchy layer.
- Add in the seafood and green peas then cover to allow it to cook for 5 more minutes. Keep the heat on medium.
- Once the seafood is cooked, add in the parsley & lemon wedges & serve! Squeezing the lemon juice over the paella before eating it gives it a wonderful fresh taste!
