How to Cook Paella
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients needed to make paella:
- 4 chicken thighs, skinned
- 12 clams
- 10-12 large shrimps, peeled and veins removed
- Fresh chorizo, casing peeled off and crumbled
- 2 ½ cups Valencia or any short-grain rice
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
- 3 medium tomatoes, minced
- 1 small onion, minced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 7 cups chicken broth
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika, crushed
- 30 saffron threads
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cooking instructions for paella:
- Soak the saffron in ¼ cup of hot water and set aside for about 15 minutes allow it to infuse its flavors.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken to season and repeat the same with the shrimps too.
- Heat olive oil in a large paella pan over moderately high heat.
- Toss the chicken and shrimp into it, followed immediately by the crumbled chorizo and saute them, stirring at times, for about 5 minutes or until the meat browns and the flesh of the shrimp turns opaque.
- Transfer the shrimp to a plate and set aside.
- Add the tomatoes, garlic as well as onions to the meat, which are still left in the pan and sprinkle the smoked paprika over it.
- Cook the mixture for about 6-7 minutes, stirring constantly, until the onions wilt and pour in the saffron water.
- Add the broth and season with a dash of salt before bringing the mixture to a boil over high flame.
- Stir in the rice as well as the bell peppers and continue to cook for about 12-15 minutes or until most of the cooking liquid is absorbed by the rice; don’t stir while rice cooks.
- Lower the heat and add the shrimp on top of the rice.
- Place the clams on top with the hinge sides facing down and continue to cook, without giving them a single stir, until the rice absorbs all the liquid and the clams snaps open.
- After about 10 minutes, increase the heat to high and continue to cook the paella for another couple of minutes.
- Turn off the heat, wrap the surface of the pan with an aluminium foil sheet and set aside for about 5 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
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