Paella Valencia
Paella is an exciting dish to make and it is easy to add your own personal style.
Traditionally, paella Valencia is only made with one meat but you will often find
it made with a mix of chicken or rabbit, pork, fish and shellfish. The mixta style
is how I learned it. A mark of a good paella is if the rice is crispy or caramelized
(almost burnt) on the bottom giving a deeper flavor and another layer of texture.
For 3 - 4
3 cups of chicken broth
Good pinch of saffron threads
Olive oil
3/4 pound chicken thigh meat or rabbit
½ pound chorizo
8 large prawns
6 clams
6 mussels
3 cloves garlic
½ onion, small diced or 1 bunch of green onions, sliced
½ red pepper, small diced
½ green pepper, small diced
3 Small tomatoes, diced
1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 1/4 cups Valencia rice
½ cup lima beans, fava beans or peas
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. To make saffron broth, bring the chicken broth to
a boil. Add saffron, turn heat to low, cover and steep for at least 30 minutes.
Once saffron has infused with the broth place a 12 inch paella pan on the stove
top and turn heat to medium high. Add a touch of olive oil to the pan. Add
garlic and cook for a few seconds and add onion and peppers. Cook for a
minute or so.
Moving vegetables to one side of the pan, add diced chicken or rabbit. Continue
to stir and season with salt, pepper and paprika. Due to the thinness of the
paella pan it will cook quickly. Add tomatoes and then the rice. Mix well with a
wooden spoon.
Deglaze with sherry and then add saffron broth. Using a wooden spoon, even
out the rice mixture by stirring small circles in the rice. (making sure to reach the
bottom of the pan) Place mussels and clams around the diameter of the pan,
mouth side up. Bring to a boil, scatter chorizo atop and cook for 8 to 10 minutes
on medium heat. Place shrimp in a star shape towards the center of the paella.
Scatter peas or fava beans on top and transfer paella to oven and cook for about
8 minutes. Remove from oven and return to finish cooking on the stove top for
fast minute to caramelize the rice on the bottom. Garnish with chopped parsley
and lemon wedges.
Paella is an exciting dish to make and it is easy to add your own personal style.
Traditionally, paella Valencia is only made with one meat but you will often find
it made with a mix of chicken or rabbit, pork, fish and shellfish. The mixta style
is how I learned it. A mark of a good paella is if the rice is crispy or caramelized
(almost burnt) on the bottom giving a deeper flavor and another layer of texture.
For 3 - 4
3 cups of chicken broth
Good pinch of saffron threads
Olive oil
3/4 pound chicken thigh meat or rabbit
½ pound chorizo
8 large prawns
6 clams
6 mussels
3 cloves garlic
½ onion, small diced or 1 bunch of green onions, sliced
½ red pepper, small diced
½ green pepper, small diced
3 Small tomatoes, diced
1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 1/4 cups Valencia rice
½ cup lima beans, fava beans or peas
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. To make saffron broth, bring the chicken broth to
a boil. Add saffron, turn heat to low, cover and steep for at least 30 minutes.
Once saffron has infused with the broth place a 12 inch paella pan on the stove
top and turn heat to medium high. Add a touch of olive oil to the pan. Add
garlic and cook for a few seconds and add onion and peppers. Cook for a
minute or so.
Moving vegetables to one side of the pan, add diced chicken or rabbit. Continue
to stir and season with salt, pepper and paprika. Due to the thinness of the
paella pan it will cook quickly. Add tomatoes and then the rice. Mix well with a
wooden spoon.
Deglaze with sherry and then add saffron broth. Using a wooden spoon, even
out the rice mixture by stirring small circles in the rice. (making sure to reach the
bottom of the pan) Place mussels and clams around the diameter of the pan,
mouth side up. Bring to a boil, scatter chorizo atop and cook for 8 to 10 minutes
on medium heat. Place shrimp in a star shape towards the center of the paella.
Scatter peas or fava beans on top and transfer paella to oven and cook for about
8 minutes. Remove from oven and return to finish cooking on the stove top for
fast minute to caramelize the rice on the bottom. Garnish with chopped parsley
and lemon wedges.