Homemade Paella

The results of an impulse shopping trip. I popped into Sur La Table a few weeks ago to retreat from the cold and ended up with a paella pan among other "essentials".  Confession: I'm a kitchen supply hoarder.  Fortunately, this pan has multiple uses and doesn't take up too much room.  More importantly, it motivated me to try my hand at one of my favorite dishes. Let me preface by saying that I know nothing about paella aside from the flavors.  My first taste of traditional paella was in 2012 during a brief visit to Barcelona and though I've since had it a number of times, I'm certainly not an expert.  But like most foods I try at restaurants, it's more fun making it at home.

At first, I was a bit intimidated with the dish, especially since it's very different from anything I've cooked before.  I did a bit of research and found Mark's breakdown in Humble Paella most helpful.  Confidence is always the first step.  I decided it would be best to utilize his Master Paella recipe as a rough guideline to my haphazard effort on achieving my version of this Spanish dish.  And so here it is.  Turns out its one of the easiest things I've made in a long time.  One dish and a marriage of flavors — spicy chorizo, vegetables, seafood, and rice.  A perfect statement dish for an evening with friends.

My recommendation is to play around.  Have some fun with this dish and its flavors, just as long as you follow the basics.  Afterall, it really is just “arroz con cosas”: rice with things, until you make it over a wood fire.

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Seafood Paella Serves 6

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ pound nitrate-free chorizo, like Un Mondo all-natural chorizo

Salt and pepper to taste

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, minced

2 cups medium-grain rice, like arborio

1 pinch saffron (available at specialty markets)

3 ½ cups organic chicken stock

½ pound seafood, like shrimp, mussels, squid

½ pound vegetables, like tomatoes and peas

Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a paella pan or 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add chorizo and cook until nicely browned. Add onion and some bell pepper at the same time and cook until soft.

Add 2 cups rice and a pinch of saffron and cook, stirring, until shiny. Add chicken stock, heated, and stir until just combined, then stir in seafood (or lay it on top of the rice).

Cook over medium-high heat, undisturbed. If the pan is too big for your burner, move it around a little; but after that initial stirring, leave it alone. When the mixture starts to dry, begin tasting the rice; if the liquid amount seems O.K., keep going. If the rice seems quite tough, add another 1/2 cup or so of liquid. And if you can smell the bottom starting to burn, lower the heat a bit. About halfway through the cooking (about 10 minutes), add any vegetables, salt, pepper, and stir gently, just once.

The rice is done when tender and still a bit moist.  This should be served in the pan.