Recipe byThe ZestyPlate Kitchen
Spain's saffron rice studded with prawns, mussels, squid and chorizo, simmered in a rich homemade seafood stock. A generous dish to share from the pan.
Paella is the dish you make when you want to feed a crowd from one pan: golden saffron rice studded with prawns, mussels, squid and smoky chorizo. Building a quick stock from the prawn heads first gives it a savoury depth you simply can't buy. It asks for a bit of attention, but carrying the whole pan to the table always pays off.
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Prep 25 min
Cook 45 min
Total 70 min
Hard
Scale:
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 10 Raw Tiger Prawns
- Bunch Parsley
- 100 ml Dry Sherry
- 500g Mussels
- Pinch Saffron
- 150g Chorizo
- 1 chopped Onion
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1 medium Squid
- 2 Tomato
- 250g Paella Rice
- 100g Broad Beans
- 1 Lemon Zest
Preparation
- Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wide, shallow pan. Add the prawn heads and parsley stalks and sizzle until the heads turn pink, then mash with a potato masher. Pour over the sherry and 300ml water, season with salt, and simmer for 10 minutes to make a stock, mashing the heads as they go.
- Scatter the mussels into the pan, cover loosely with a lid or tea towel, and place over high heat for 3-4 minutes until they just open. Stir to release the juices, then pour the contents into a colander set over a large bowl holding the saffron. Let the saffron steep in the stock. You need 700ml in total, so top up with water if needed and stir. Pick out the mussels and set them aside.
- Wipe out the pan and add the rest of the olive oil. Sizzle the chorizo until it releases its oil, then add the onion and garlic and cook until softened. Add the squid and turn until white. Add the tomatoes and cook down for a minute, then pour over most of the stock, stir, and bring to the boil. Scatter the rice over the stock, stir well once, then boil hard for 5 minutes. Drop to the lowest heat and simmer for 10 minutes without stirring, until the rice has soaked up most of the liquid.
- Tuck the prawn tails into the rice and simmer for 5 minutes, turning until cooked through. Stir through the mussels and broad beans. Taste the rice. If it is still a little raw but the pan has gone dry, add a splash more stock and carry on; if it is too soupy, turn up the heat to cook off the last of the liquid.
- Once the rice is just cooked, turn off the heat and cover with a tea towel for a few minutes. Scatter over the parsley leaves and lemon zest, season with smoked salt if you like, stir once, and serve straight from the pan with lemon wedges.
Tips from the ZestyPlate Kitchen
- Once the rice goes in, leave it alone. That still, even cooking is what builds the prized crust on the base, the socarrat.
- Use a true short-grain paella rice such as bomba, which drinks up flavour while keeping a little bite.
- Steep the saffron in the warm stock so its colour and scent run right through the dish.
- Rest the finished paella under a tea towel for a few minutes so the rice settles before you serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
A short-grain Spanish rice like bomba or calasparra is best, as it soaks up plenty of stock without going mushy. Risotto rice will do at a pinch, but never stir it.
It is the lightly caramelised layer of rice on the bottom of the pan that paella fans hunt for. Bring it on by raising the heat briefly at the end and listening for a gentle crackle.
Definitely. Chicken and rabbit give you the classic Valencian version, and a vegetable paella with beans, peppers and artichokes is excellent too.
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