Recipe of Paella Recipe Spanish Chef

Maria's Classic Paella

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Recipe Summary Maria's Classic Paella

I have loved paella since the first time I tried it while traveling through Spain at 17. Though I could never make it as great as my friend's mom in Madrid, this recipe comes so close! It's a favorite at our house for Sunday dinner and tastes all the better when made in a traditional paella pan (brought back in a suitcase, no less!). I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Ingredients | Paella Recipe Spanish Chef

4 cups chicken stock

20 saffron threads, crushed

¾ cup olive oil

4 chicken thighs

1 cup chopped onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 links chorizo de bilbao (spicy Spanish semi-cured sausage)

2 cups Spanish paella rice

2 teaspoons Spanish sweet paprika

½ cup grated peeled roma (plum) tomatoes

8 clams in shell, scrubbed, or more to taste

8 mussels, cleaned and debearded, or more to taste

8 prawns, peeled and deveined (leave tails)

3 red bell peppers, cut into strips

10 ounces peas

salt and ground black pepper to taste

½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

8 wedges lemon

1 baguette, sliced

Directions

Bring stock to a simmer in a stockpot over medium-low heat. Stir crushed saffron into the simmering stock.

Heat olive oil in a paella pan over medium heat. Fry chicken thighs in hot oil until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion is translucent, 5 to 7 minutes more. Arrange the chorizo into the pan around the chicken thighs and cook until warmed, 3 to 5 minutes per side.

Pour rice into the paella pan and stir to coat with oil; season with sweet paprika. Stir grated tomato into the rice and cook until the tomato is warmed, 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour chicken stock into the paella pan and bring to a boil while scraping any browned bits of food off the bottom of the pan with a flat-edged wooden spoon. Smooth surface of rice with the wooden spoon in an even layer so it cooks evenly.

Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, without stirring, until the rice has softened but has yet to completely absorb the stock, 15 to 30 minutes.

Place clams and mussels, hinged-side down, into the rice; continue simmering until the mussels and clams open, 5 to 7 minutes.

Nestle prawns into the rice; add bell pepper and peas. Continue cooking until the bottom of the rice is browned and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle parsley over the paella, and garnish with lemon wedges. Serve with baguette slices.

For this recipe, a special 4-person paella pan was used to create the authentic flavors of paella found in Spain. If you're not able to find a paella pan at your local specialty kitchen supply shop, you can also use a large flat-bottomed pan for this recipe, but it does need to have a flat bottom and able to be heated evenly to cook the rice.

You can use other vegetables, like green beans, Spanish beans, and artichoke hearts along with the peas in this recipe or leave them out. We prefer just the peas in our paella. You can also use all mussels or all clams, based on your preference.

Info | Paella Recipe Spanish Chef

prep: 25 mins cook: 55 mins additional: 5 mins total: 1 hr 25 mins Servings: 8 Yield: 8 servings

TAG : Maria's Classic Paella

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