Authentic Spanish Paella
The flavors are amazing. The texture just perfect. Spanish Seafood Paella is a great social dish, that everyone around the table can enjoy. Make it in a large Paella pan and put it in the middle of the table.
Marthinus StrydomThe Story
A little history of Spanish Paella. It originates from a region of Spain called Valencia, which is in Eastern Spain. These days paella can be found in most Western countries, from the Americas to Europe, and it is especially popular in Spain. The recipe has expanded over the years, and now many different varieties of paella are passed off as authentic. The most commonly accepted story of paella’s origins is that servants would take the leftovers from Moorish royal banquets and cook it up over open fires into delicious dishes they would take home to their families.
More about Spain
Spain, a country on Europe’s Iberian Peninsula, includes 17 autonomous regions with diverse geography and cultures. Capital city Madrid is home to the Royal Palace and Prado museum, housing works by European masters. Segovia has a medieval castle (the Alcázar) and an intact Roman aqueduct. Catalonia’s capital, Barcelona, is defined by Antoni Gaudí’s whimsical modernist landmarks like the Sagrada Família church.
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Ingredients
Method
- First you want to cut up all your ingredients, mince cloves of garlic, dice the onion, dice the red bell pepper, also reserve the jumbo prawns that have been peeled and deveined and the cleaned mussels.
- Slice the Chorizo.
- Heat a paella pan or large frying pan with a medium-high heat and fry the Chorizo. Make sure it is nice and crispy. Add the garlic and fry for a minute more. Remove the Chorizo into a bowl.
- Add 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil, once the oil is hot, season it with sea salt and add the onions.
- After a minute or two add the tomato paste.
- After 1 minute add the red bell pepper, mix and cook for 3 minutes, then add 1/2 cup of tomato puree, season everything with a generous 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika, a generous pinch of sea salt and a hint of freshly cracked black pepper, continue to cook for 2 minutes, add 2 1/2 cups of broth and the saffron, gently mix everything together.
- Once the broth comes to a boil, add 1/2 cup of rice to the pan and then gently distribute the rice throughout the pan with a wooden spoon, do not mix or stir the rice.
- After 5 minutes of cooking add the prawns and the mussels, fish and Chorizo.
- Cook for another 5 minutes and then lower the heat to a low-medium heat (do not stir the rice after this point, you can give the pan a quick shake once in a while)
- After simmering for 10 minutes and there is very little broth left, turn the heat back to a medium-high heat for 1 minute. This is the technique to make the socarrat (burnt rice on the bottom of the pan).
- Then turn off the heat, cover the paella pan completely and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Uncover the paella, garnish with freshly chopped parsley and a couple of lemon wedges
