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Paella
Background info: A dish symbolic of traditional Spanish cuisine, paella, with its dazzling array of flavors and spices, saw its first recipe recorded in the mid-19th century to capture a traditional cooking style believed to have emerged from the coastal region of Valencia, Spain, which combined a variety of foraged ingredients in a pan over an open flame.
Unlike its modern-day cousin which evolved with access to a wider selection of ingredients (especially seafoods like the shrimp, squid, and littleneck clams featured in our recipe, paella Valenciana began as a lunchtime meal for farmers and farm laborers who depended on hyper-local ingredients such as water vole and eel. By the late-19th century, a rise in popularity of outdoor meal gatherings expanded the ingredient list to include round-grain rice, local snails, rabbit, chicken, duck, and at least three types of beans. Since then, countless chefs have put their own unique spin on this classic preparation.
—Price-Pottenger
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The best paella I ever had was on a sunny day at an outdoor café in Barcelona, Spain. Determined to make my own version, I’ve fortunately known a true Spaniard long enough that she was willing to share her mother’s paella recipe. (Thanks, Fabiola Arredondo!) Of course, I’ve taken some liberties to simplify it, which, according to Fabiola, is a very Spanish thing to do: “Every good Spanish woman has her own version of paella.” So here is my simplified version of authentic paella.
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
- 6 cups chicken stock, store-bought or homemade
- 1 small onion, peeled and left whole, plus 1 medium onion, chopped
- ½ teaspoon saffron threads
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 pound chorizo sausage, sliced
- 4 scallions, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 pound wild-caught shrimp, peeled and deveined, with tails intact
- 1 pound squid, cleaned, bodies sliced into rings
- 3 cups paella or risotto rice (such as Bomba or Arborio)
- 1 large handful chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 1 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed and rinsed
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325° F.
- In a saucepan, bring the stock to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, add the whole onion, saffron, and smoked paprika and stir to combine. Simmer to infuse the flavors, cover, and set aside.
- In a paella pan or large heavy-bottomed skillet, heat ¼ cup of the oil over high heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 3 minutes per side, until browned. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add the chorizo to the pan and cook for a few minutes, turning, until browned. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium, add the chopped onion, scallions, and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until golden. Add the shrimp and squid and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Remove the shrimp and squid and set aside.
- Add the remaining ¼ cup oil and the rice and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the parsley and peas and stir to combine. Discard the whole onion from the stock and add the stock to the pan.
- Arrange the chorizo, shrimp, squid, and chicken in the pan, making sure the chicken is on top so the skin can crisp. Add the clams to the pan and transfer to the oven. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes, until the stock has been absorbed. Remove from the oven, cover in foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve the paella with lemon wedges.
TIP: A paella pan is a really wide, shallow pan with a thin metal bottom designed specifically for this dish. The wide surface area means everything cooks consistently and the thinner base means the rice forms a nice crust on the bottom. You can also use a large skillet or wide saucepan, but the end result won’t be quite as crisp (still delicious though!).
Reprinted by permission of Maria Rodale from Scratch: Home Cooking for Everyone Made Simple, Fun, and Totally Delicious (Rodale Inc., 2016). Visit mariarodale.com.
Photograph by Con Poulos.
Published in the Journal of Health and Healing™
Spring 2023 | Volume 47, Number 1
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