Seafood Paella Recipe (Gluten free)

This recipe takes its inspiration from the tiena.com site. It is an amazing dish, and when I serve it, people tell me that I should open a restaurant.

Serves 4

Ingredients

•  6 Cups of water (You can use clam or seafood broth. )
•  1 tsp thread saffron
• 1/4 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
• 1 7.9 Ounce Package of Palacios Spanish Hot Picante Chorizo
•  1 dozen mussels
•  1 dozen small clams
•  12 large shrimp in shells (You can used peeled shrimp, if you don’t want people shelling them at the table.)
•  Sea salt or Spanish sea salt
•  3 tbsp parsley, minced
•  8 cloves garlic, minced
•  1 tbsp fresh thyme (lemon thyme is very nice if you can get it)
•  2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
•  8 tbsp olive oil
•  1 medium onion, chopped
•  6 scallions, chopped
•  1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
•  1 large tomato, chopped
•  2 cups Bomba paella rice or Calasparra paella rice Important – you must use paella rice or this will not come out.
•  Lemon wedges for serving

Preparation

STEP 1 (Prep)

Over high heat, heat water (or broth) in a large pot to a simmer and stir in saffron and liquid smoke. Turn down heat so that the water just simmers. Pat shrimp dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and let sit 10 minutes. Use a mortar and pestle to mash 2 tbsp parsley, garlic, thyme and 1/8 tsp salt into a paste; stir in paprika. Add water if necessary to form a paste. Slice chorizo into 1/4 inch slices.

STEP 2 (Cook the Vegetables)

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in 15″ paella pan over medium high heat until shimmering, and add chorizo, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Add remaining 6 tbsp of oil, let it heat up to a shimmer, and then add the onion, scallions and bell pepper to paella pan and cook until the vegetables are slightly softened. Raise heat to high, add tomato and cook until it becomes sauce-like, 2 to 5 minutes.

STEP 3 (Cook the Rice)

Pour in the rice and stir until rice is covered with the tomato mixture. Add chorizo pieces back to the pan and stir. Slowly add the hot broth to the pan. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring rice and rotating pan occasionally. Stir in parsley paste. Taste for salt. Important – Do not stir after this point. Lower the heat, continue to simmer until rice is no longer soupy but enough liquid remains to continue cooking the rice (about 10 min.). Add extra liquid if necessary. 

STEP 4 (Cook the seafood.)

Arrange shrimp, clams and mussels over rice, placing edges of mussel and clam shells so they open facing up. Cook, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes until the water (or broth) has been absorbed. Add extra liquid if rice is goes dry before the 15 minutes are done. (For those of you at higher altitudes, you may have to cook this longer, 25 to 30 minutes.) Remove pan from the heat and cover with foil. Let sit 10 minutes.

STEP 5 (Garnish)

Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tbsp parsley, garnish with lemon wedges, and serve from the pan.

Notes: While I have seen many sites say that you have to use a paella pan, I use my Lodge cast iron skillet or my Le Creuset roaster when I doubled the recipe for a dinner party.

From the https://www.tienda.com/recipes/seafood-paella.html “Paella de Marisco is a summer favorite in Spain for good reason – paella is the perfect base for whatever’s tantalizingly fresh from the sea. While not considered the most traditional of paellas, it’s one of our absolute favorites – both for the stunning presentation and the delicious, coastal flavor. If you have an opportunity to cook your paella outside over a wood fire, do it! This will give your paella the smoke it needs for the absolute best texture and flavor.”