Spanish Paella

Chef #457852 - bggio's Note:

A Spanish specialty. This paella can be played with. If you only want the seafood, you can omit the other meats. I prefer this as stated but seafood only works as well.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 170 g chorizo sausage , cut into thin slices
• 110 g pancetta , cut into small dice
• 4 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 1 large Spanish onion , finely diced
• 1 red pepper , diced
• 1 green pepper , diced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leave
• 1⁄8; teaspoon dried red chili pepper flakes
• 570 ml calasparra short-grain rice (Spanish short-grain)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 125 ml dry white wine
• 1 ¼ liters chicken stock , heated
• 1⁄8;-¼ teaspoon saffron strand
• 8 chicken thighs , boneless each chopped in half and browned
• 10 small clams , cleaned
• 110 g frozen peas
• 4 large tomatoes , de-seeded and diced
• 125 ml olive oil
• 1 head garlic , cloves separated and peeled
• 12 large raw prawns , in shells
• 250 g squid , cleaned and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 5 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat half the olive oil in a paella dish or heavy-based saucepan. Add the chorizo and pancetta and fry until pancetta is crisp. And brown chicken and remove.
2. you can also make SOFRITO instead of step 3 and continue(Sofrito is a Spanish tomato and onion sauce which is used as a flavor base for a variety of dishes, including paella. To make the sofrito, heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in the paella pan over a medium heat and cook the chopped red onion, 2 tablespoons of parsley and 3 of the chopped garlic cloves for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add some pureed tomatoes and 2 teaspoons of paprika (preferably Spanish smoked paprika) and cook until all the liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated and the sofrito has the consistency of jam. Transfer the sofrito to a small bowl and wipe clean the paella pan.
3. Add the garlic, onion and pepper and heat until softened. Add the thyme, chili flakes and calasparra rice, and stir until all the grains of rice are nicely coated and glossy.
4. Now add the paprika and dry white wine and when it is bubbling, pour in the hot chicken stock (while stock is heating add saffron), add the chicken thighs and cook for 5-10 minutes.
5. Now place the clams into the dish with the joint facing down so that the edges open outwards. Sprinkle in the peas and chopped tomatoes and continue to cook gently for another 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil with the garlic cloves in a separate pan and add the prawns. Fry quickly for a minute or two then add them to the paella.
7. Now do the same with the squid and add them to the paella too and add Safrito if you chose the to do that step.
8. Scatter the chopped parsley over the paella and serve immediately.