Week 122:
RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS STAFF, LISA WALKER
I recently received a paella pan for my birthday. I’ve never cooked paella before but have been really interested in trying it. I Googled “Paella recipe” and there are many variations out there using chicken, chorizo or sausage, shrimp, clams, mussels, lobster, and scallops or basically any type of protein you want to add. I chose a seafood paella recipe from a YouTube video by Joshua Weissman. What I found was that while at first glance it looks intimidating, it really is quite easy and comes together quickly.
There are a couple of things not to get hung up on, while a paella pan is special for this dish, it is not necessary, a large cast iron skillet or any large skillet will work fine. Ideally cooking over a fire is how authentic paella is made but I made mine on an electric stove top and from what I can tell it was just as good. If you are looking for your own paella pan, I researched and found the Garcima 16-inch Pata Negra Restaurant Grade Paella Pan to be the best for the money ($32 on Amazon!). You will also need Bomba rice which is special for paella, don’t skimp on this as other rice won’t cook properly. I hope you try this recipe and like it as much as we did!
*Note, if you watch the video you will notice I cut some corners and just used store bought fish stock
rather than making my own shrimp stock but knock yourself out if you want to go the extra step.
Seafood Paella
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Shrimp peeled and deveined
- 2 lobster tails split
- 1 lb. mussels and or little neck clams
- Other seafood of your choice, calamari cut into rings, scallops, crab
- 3 cups Bomba rice
- 5 ½ -6 cups Seafood stock
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 5 oz. Spanish chorizo diced
- 1 yellow onion finely diced
- 1 red bell pepper finely diced
- 5 garlic cloves finely diced
- 1 can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 ½ t. smoked paprika
- 1 t. saffron threads
- Chopped parsley
- Lemon wedges
Instructions
- In saucepan combine stock and saffron, heat until saffron is dissolved or mostly dissolved in stock. Set aside.
- Add 2 T. extra virgin olive oil to skillet over medium heat. Add finely diced chorizo and cook down til fat is rendered. Add the diced onion, pepper, and garlic, cook for a few minutes and then add the can of diced tomatoes, bay leaf, and smoked paprika. Stir and heat through then add the white wine.
- Let simmer for a few minutes until most of the liquid is cooked down.
- Add the rice and stir to toast about one minute.
- Pour the saffron stock into the pan and swirl or stir to incorporate. Let this come to a simmer for 15 mins.
- Nestle the seafood into the rice and continue to simmer for additional 5-8 minutes. You should NOT stir even though you will smell the rice toasting on the bottom of the pan.
- Cut the heat and cover with foil for 10 minutes.
- Garnish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, chopped parsley, and lemon wedges. Enjoy!