Seafood Paella 西班牙海鮮燴飯

Yields: 4 servings

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 30 min

Ingredients:

 1 pounds raw extra-large shrimp

A dozen mussels

Some scallops

2 cups bottled clam juice

1  cup chicken or fish broth

3/4 cup white wine
3 tomatoes ( I substitute with 3 tbsp tomato paste)

1/2 teaspoon saffron

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1/3 cup finely chopped onion 

1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped (optional)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cup uncooked Spanish Arborio Rice

2 tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons Spanish paprika

1 cup frozen peas (optional) my kids and husband don't like peas, so I did not put it

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (for garnish) 

Lemon wedges (for garnish)
pint of salt and black pepper according to taste

Preparation:
(Word in purple is from original recipe, but I did not follow this time)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle the shelled shrimp all over with coarse salt; let sit 15 minutes. The salt helps bring back the briny taste of the sea that most seafood, especially frozen seafood, tends to lose.

HINT: Have all ingredients chopped and measured before beginning the final cooking of the paella. It is a quick cooking dish that must have all ingredients ready to go.

In a large pan over medium-heat heat, heat the clam juice and chicken/fish broth, wine, and saffron; pour mussels to broth. Take mussels out when shells just pop open. Reduce heat to low and keep broth hot (not boiling).

 In a large Paella Pan or heavy cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Add onion and cook 3 minutes or until slightly softened.

Remove pan from heat. Stir in garlic and rice and continue stirring until garlic is fragrant and the rice is evenly coated with oil, about 1 minute. Coating the rice with the oil before adding liquid helps keep the rice grains to stay separated.

Stir in tomato paste, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir in hot clam/saffron broth mixture. Return to heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer (stirring and rotating the pan occasionally) mixture 10 to 15 minutes or until rice is no longer soupy but sufficient liquid remains to continue cooking the rice in the oven.

Stir in shrimp, scallops and mussels.

Cover pan and continue cooking in low heat until the seafood are cooked and liquid are all absorbed by rice. You can skip this step if you want to follow the original recipe by putting the pan to oven. Follow the next purple paragraph to finish the steps.

Transfer paella pan to the oven and cook, uncovered, about 15 to 20 minutes until the rice is almost al dente and until almost all liquid is absorbed. NOTE: Never cook paella until the rice is completely done. If you do, it will be mushy by the time it reaches the table. Remove from the oven when the rice grains are no longer hard but still have more bite than you want and a crust forms around the edge of the pan.

Remove from oven Remove from stove, cover with aluminum foil, and let sit 5 to 10 minutes or until the rice is cooked to taste. Paella must rest after being removed from the oven, during which time the final cooking takes place.

 To serve, sprinkle with chopped parsley and arrange lemon wedges around the top of the paella. Serve immediately. To eat, sprinkle lemon juice over paella.

NOTE: Always bring the paella to the table in its pan for your guests to admire before serving. Traditionally, paella is eaten communally with everyone sitting around the pan and taking the rice directly from the pan with a spoon. Although you are not likely to serve it this way, do leave the paella pan at the center of the table so your family or guests can help themselves to more.

Makes 4 servings. 

Hints and Tips:

If the paella is almost al dente and ready to be removed from the oven, but still seems to have liquid, return it to the top of the stove over high heat. Without stirring, heat until the liquid has evaporated. Then remove from heat and cover the rice and let it rest before serving.

If the paella seems dry before the rice is almost al dente, sprinkle with a few tablespoons of water and allow to cook in the oven 2 to 3 minutes longer. Then remove from oven and cover the rice and let it rest before serving. 

Recipe adapted from: http://whatscookingamerica.net/PaellaShrimp.htm