1 hr 10 min Weekend Magazine kitchen
PescatarianDairy-freeGluten-free
True Valencian paella is rabbit, chicken, and beans — seafood paella is the coastal cousin the rest of the world fell for. The law is the same: a wide pan, a thin layer of rice, and the nerve not to stir. The caramelized crust on the bottom is the prize, not a mistake.
Ingredients
6
- bomba or short-grain rice2 cups
- saffron1 pinch
- fish or shellfish stock5 cups
- mussels500 g
- prawns400 g
- onion1
- tomato2, grated
- garlic4 cloves
- smoked paprika1 tsp
- olive oil1/3 cup
- lemon2
- flat-leaf parsleya handful
Method
- 1
Warm stock with saffron. Keep it simmering.
- 2
In a wide paella pan, fry onion in olive oil, then garlic, paprika, and grated tomato until thick.
- 3
Stir in rice to coat. Pour in stock. Shake the pan level. Do not stir again.
- 4
Simmer hard then gentle, 15–18 minutes. Nestle seafood in for the last 8 minutes.
- 5
Listen for the rice to crackle — that is socarrat. Rest 5 minutes under a cloth. Lemon at the table.