Paella

Submitted by canarygirl

"This is a wonderfully flavorful meal. Chicken or pork may be substituted for the seafood, or try a "mixed" paella, with a little of each!"

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 18
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 cups rice (Uncle Ben's works best)
• 5 cups water
• 1 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined
• 1⁄2 lb mussels, in their shells
• 1⁄2 lb clam, in their shells
• 1⁄2 lb squid, cleaned, and cut into rings
• 1 medium onion
• 2 -3 very ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded
• 1⁄2 green pepper
• 1⁄2 red pepper
• 2 -3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 -3 sprigs thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• saffron (I use 1 packet of ground)
• 1 double bouillon cube (Knorr is nice)
• salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• lemon wedge (for serving)

directions

1. Clean all seafood under cold running water.
2. Chop vegetables.
3. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot.
4. Sauté vegetables.
5. When they begin to soften, add seafood, thyme and bay leaf, and cook thoroughly.
6. Add saffron, water, bouillon cube and salt. Stir well and add rice.
7. Bring to a boil, and boil uncovered 5 minutes on high heat.
8. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 10 more minutes. Do not lift cover during this time!
9. Remove from heat and let stand covered for 5 more minutes, still without removing cover.
10. Now, you can finally lift the lid, and fluff the rice, remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs.
11. Serve with crusty french bread, and lemon wedges.

Reviews

[Hastur]

This turned out quite tasty. It wasn't difficult to make, either. My only complaint is that there seemed to be too much liquid and it turned out a little soggy; there wasn't much of the crispy rice at the bottom of the pan like there should be with good paella. I would use this recipe again, but I might omit a half-cup or even whole cup of water next time.

 

[rbalcom]

Really Tasty!! I used organic long grain rice so I added earlier to be sure it was cooked. Had some leftover...tasted even better the next day. Easy to make...my kids helped chop veges and read the recipe. Husband and mother-in law like it alot !! She's hard to please so thanks for a good one.

 

[Zaza2271]

I think arborio (the kind used in rissoto)rice would work best in this dish. It does need saffron as that is really the essence of the dish. I think it needs peas. In my view, you can't have paella without peas, but that's a matter of taste (actually that's usually how the Spanish do it too).

 

[Lynn302]

Although this recipe may appear complicated it is deceiving. It is easy to put together. I baked mine in the oven(in a wok!) and had time to do other last minute details before my company arrived. I made this for a girls evening dinner at my house and it was a huge hit! It is not only a feast for the tummy but also for the eyes. My guests were very impressed. I added chicken pieces and a few links of chorizo cut into pieces and served it with a green salad, crusty bread and olives. It is very authentic to what I ate in Spain and will make it many more times. Thanks for a great recipe!

 

[Chris Wilson UK]

I made a few small changes, adding some garlic and using chicken, pork sausages, slices of Lomo (Spanish ham sausage) and king prawns, and the recipe worked perfectly, absolutely delicious and very quick to cook. Thank you canarygirl!