Paella Perfection
Ah paella, the quintessential Spanish dish loved and eaten all over the country. When I first moved to Spain we ate paella every week and I fell in love with it.
My friends and I would lie out on sun-beds looking over the sparkling Mediterranean sea, drink chilled wine and wait for our paella to be ready. We’d come off the beach, wash the sea salt off our faces, order yet more wine to wash it down and gorge ourselves on the best paella I have ever eaten. That might sound slightly decadent and I suppose it is, given we did this nearly every weekend in summer. Still, you can’t say no when the opportunity presents itself can you, and I recommend it to everyone.
So here is my rendition. It needs to be eaten with great gusto and a group of happy and hungry people. I’ve also been told by a wonderful Spanish friend that Paella should only be eaten at lunch time. So, with that in mind Sunday seems to be the perfect time of the week to relax, create, share and enjoy.
INGREDIENTS
3 tbsp olive oil
2 onion, finely chopped
2 red capsicum, chopped
2 large tomato – grated – yes, sounds weird but it works perfectly
4 garlic cloves, crushed
600g chicken breast fillet, diced
400g calamari, sliced
900g Spanish rice (allow about 80g per person)
1.5ml fish stock
2 tbsp Salivate! Paella Blend
10 large green prawns
10 fresh mussels
24 fresh pippis
400g peas
6 piquillo peppers
1/3 cup chopped parsley
METHOD
· Heat oil in the paella pan over medium heat. Add onion, capsicum, tomato, garlic, chicken and calamari. Add rice and stir for 1 minute. Stir in stock, saffron and paprika.
· Cover pan with alfoil and a tea towel.
· When the stock is boiling and rice grains begin to swell, lay the prawns on the top.
· Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until the stock has reduced and the rice has begun to swell. Push the mussels and pippis into the rice and cook until the shells open. Cover pan.
· Finally add the peas, strips of capsicum and parsley and leave it for five more minutes on low heat.
Note:
- The perfect time to add the seafood to paella is when enough of the stock has been absorbed to allow the rice to be seen.
- Do not stir the paella during main cooking.
SOCCARRADA SUCCESS
Ask any proud paellero (paella cook) and they'll tell you that the soccarrada is what separates an average cook from a maestro. The crisp, golden layer that forms on the bottom of a paella is regarded as a highly prized delicacy in Spanish households.
So how do you achieve this soccarrada success?
“When all the stock is gone and you finish cooking your paella turn the heat up and look at the bottom of the pan and see if the rice is sticking. Cook it on high for two minutes and then turn off the heat and rest it for five minutes. That extra five minutes will make all the difference to the paella as the flavours will settle and it will taste fantastic.”