Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Paella de Marisco

Inspiration:
A cooking class taken in Barcelona over Christmas 2006


Ingredients:
  • 8 prawns, shells on, deveined
  • 2 squids (or cuttlefish), in rings
  • 1 pound mussels
  • 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed
  • 1 tomato, peeled, minced
  • 6 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 pound arborio rice
  • 4 1/2 cups fish stock (I use Penzey's Seafood Soup Base)
  • 8-10 saffron threads

Instructions:
  1. Heat the oil in the pan and fry the prawns until slightly browned. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
  2. Add the the tomato in the same hot oil and fry slightly. After some minutes, add chopped garlic and fry over medium heat.
  3. When the tomato starts to burn, stir in Linkthe squid and the clams and mussels.
  4. Stir in the stock and the saffron and bring it to a boil.
  5. Add the rice and distribute it evenly. Rice can’t be touched beyond this point!
  6. After some minutes add the prawns in a decorative pattern.
  7. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook for (+/-) 8 minutes, rotating and swirling the pan to distribute the heat evenly. Reduce heat to minimum and cook (+/-) 10 more minutes.
  8. Let it stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:
Our cooking class instructor was from Valencia, the birthplace of Paella. There are many, many varieties of paella, but according to my research, this recipe is pretty authentic. Here is an article if you are interested in paella history and proper preparation.

I thought there were way too many mussels, so next time I will use 1/2 pound. I will also double the amount of saffron.


Tim's Rating: 8/10
Liz's Rating: 8/10 (has potential, but it's difficult to execute)

11 comments:

Sara said...

This looks amazing, I've been on a spanish food kick lately.

Erin said...

I'm impressed. I love paella, but I'm scared to try it at home...

Lisa said...

What a beautiful dish!

What's Cookin Chicago said...

What a great experience to have in Spain! Your paella looks beautiful!

HaveShoesWillTravel said...

Yummm I love paella. My mom and I went to a paella cooking class once but it seems too overwhelming for me to try at home.

Kira said...

My husband LOVES paella, but I haven't gotten to the point where I'm willing to try it yet. Thanks for the inspiration though!

Kelly said...

I LOVE paella ... this looks delicious (though it is putzy and time consuming).

weezermonkey said...

I am in awe that you made paella. That's a tough one!

Maria said...

Lucky you! This looks fabulous!

Anonymous said...

cool blog

seafood supplier said...

Delicious food and nice photo