The Husband’s Paella

The Husband and I were visiting an elderly friend who adored watching Martha Stewart cook (and I agree there’s something mesmerizing about watching someone prepare food,) and The Husband got caught up in the idea of preparing the quintessential Spanish dish, paella. We love paella, but I’d never made it so he came home and took a run at it. Turns out it’s a lot like stir-fry. Most of the time is in the prep. Once it’s cooking, there are long periods of relaxation where you can taste the wines and make a decision on which one you think will go best with this dish. (Suggestions: Tempranillo, which is a lovely Spanish wine, or a good California Zinfindel.)

Paella is one of those lovely international dishes that includes all kinds of different ingredients depending on where you are and what you have on hand. We live in the Pacific Northwest, so we have an abundance of shellfish and fresh white fish. We like both, so we include them, but any kind of poultry, Spanish chorizo and bomba or arborio rice will turn out a yummy paella.

Paella for two to four

Ingredients

1-2 boneless skinless Chicken Breasts

Olive Oil

Smoked paprika

1- (14.5 oz.) cans- Diced Tomatoes (drained)

1/2 – Medium Onion, chopped

1 – Bell Peppers (red, orange, or yellow) cut into strips

5-6 garlic cloves, chopped

3 – Sprigs of Thyme

12 – Large Shrimp, cleaned and deveined

8 to 12 oz – Spanish Chorizo (or garlicky sausage) cut into bite-sized pieces

1/4 tsp Saffron soaked in small amount of water

⅔ cup Arborio Rice

1 Lb – Steamer Clams, cleaned and purged

1 Lb – Mussels, cleaned and purged

12-14oz – Firm white fish

1/2 – 8 oz Bottle of Clam Juice

3/4 cups – Chicken broth

1 cup Sugar snap peas ( chopped) or frozen peas

PREP.

1. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Place chicken in bowl and add 2 teaspoons Olive oil. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoons paprika and salt. Mix to coat and marinate covered in refrigerator for 4 hours.

2.. Toss shrimp with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika and ¼ teaspoon salt. Keep refrigerated.

COOK

1. In a non-stick skillet:

Add 1 tbs of olive oil and heat. (med-high)

Add chorizo slices and fry until brown. blot on paper towels.

In the grease left behind, fry shrimp until speckled brown (don’t cook through! They’re going in later.)

Transfer to bowl and cover to keep warm.

2. In large skillet or Paella pan

Add olive oil to coat bottom of pan

Heat until pan is very hot.

Add chicken and cook on med-high until

Golden brown on all sides. (4 minutes)

3. To Paella pan, add peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes and thyme

Cook stirring, 2 min.

4. Add browned sausage

Cook stirring, 2 min.

5. Add rice & saffron in its water

Stir to coat.

6. Add cleaned and rinsed clams and mussels.

7. Add clam juice & chicken broth.

Bring to boil.

8. Cover pan and reduce heat to low

Let cook for approximately 20 min.

9. Place fish on top, add shrimp, and cook until fish is flaky, shellfish opens and shrimp is done.

9. Add sugarsnap peas and cook 2 minutes until tender, or stir in frozen peas until thawed. You want the peas to be a bright green color with a fresh flavor.

10. Check to make sure rice is tender, if not, simmer longer.

Discard any unopened mussels and clams.

Serve w/ lemon wedges. … I see a trip to Spain in our future. The paella and wine tour! 😁