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Paella is a spanish dish that is an amazing option as a 1 pan main for a group of people to share and enjoy. My recipe is a culmination of about 15 recipes I have looked at and researched. The important thing to remember is there aren't too many rules when making this delicious food. The flavours come from saffron and chorizo, so those are key ingredients you need to use. But feel free to use a little ingenuity if you don't have or can't find something I have described below.
Ingredients:
(Serving Size for 8 Guests)
1 package of Bomba Spanish Rice (750 g) **If you can't find this get Italian arborio**
1 Yellow Onion
5 cloves of garlic
1 Red Pepper
1/2 pound of Chorzio
Handful of Fresh Chopped Parsley
1 Lemon
Pinch of Saffron
2 cups of dry white wine
1/2 Cup of Vegetable Oil
2 TBSP of Olive Oil
8 Chicken Bone-in Skin-On Thighs
2 lbs of Clams
2 lb of Mussels
1 lb Shrimp
1 lb of Scallops
6 cups of Chicken Stock
Salt and Pepper
2-3 TBSP of Flour or Cornstarch (for cleaning Mussels)
Special Kitchen Supplies:
You need a Paella pan- I bought mine at Kitchen+ for less than $20.00 and it is awesome!
Directions:
1. Marinate the chicken thighs for a few hours prior to making the paella. Chop up 2 garlic cloves, add the olive oils and a 1/4 cup of dry white wine, along with a wedge of lemon and salt and pepper. Cover and marinate.
2. Cut up the lemon into 8 wedges and set aside.
3. To clean your mussels and clams, fill your sink with some cold water and add 2-3 TBSP of Flour or Cornstarch (this will depend on whether you want a gluten free dish) and add the mussels and clams. Let them soak for a couple hours. The shellfish will drink in the flour water mixture and spit out any sand and grit. Be careful when you remove them not to stir up the bottom of the sink.
4. Remove shrimp from shells, add them to a bowl with the scallops, squeeze some lemon on them and pepper.
5. In a measuring cup, add wine and saffron and let sit at room temperature.
6. Chop up the red pepper, onion, garlic and set aside.
7. Chop up the chorizo into small bite size pieces and set aside.
8. When ready to cook, turn on your BBQ to heat up for 15 minutes. Set your Paella pan directly on the grill. Begin cooking the chicken directly on the grill beside your pan (10-15 minutes).
9. Add the vegetable oil to the bottom of the pan and turn down heat to medium on the BBQ, add the onion, garlic and red pepper and begin cooking with the BBQ lid down.
10. Once the onion has turned translucent, add your chorizo and let cook for 5-6 minutes.
11. Add your rice to the pan and stir. After about 5 minutes the rice should begin to look translucent. Add 1/2 (3 cups) your chicken stock, salt and pepper and stir, cover and keep checking back to stir.
12. On a side burner, in a large saucepan, add your wine with saffron and bring to a boil, add your clams and cover. Cook until the clams open. Then add them to the rice, saving some liquid for the mussels. Repeat with mussels. **Don't cook these together as they take different amounts of time to open.**
13. Add your lemons directly to the grill to get some char and flavour. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then add to the Paella pan.
14. After cooking the rice for 10 minutes, add the remainder of the chicken stock and all the liquid from the mussels.
15. The Paella rice should take about 25 minutes to cook fully. 5 Minutes before it is ready, add your raw scallops and shrimp and cooked mussels, along with your cooked chicken thighs and close the BBQ lid to allow for the seafood to finish in the rice.
16. When the rice is tender to the taste, remove the pan from the BBQ and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
17. Let cool and rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Wine Pairings:
Spanish Paella calls for Spanish wine. The smokiness from the BBQ, along with the Chorizo really calls for a glass of red wine (a definite exception to the general white wine and seafood rule). I would recommend a Rioja or a River Del Duero. The tasting note of wood barrels really works well with this dish!
Want to learn more about wine? Why not host a wine event with your friends, co-workers or family? For more information about wine, food and the good life, follow me on Instagram @NewAgeNonna or subscribe to my Blog.