Seafood Paella Recipe

Paella is not a dish you can make in a hurry - it's a social event in Spain, cooked outdoors surrounded by friends and family. So take your time, pick a lazy weekend and enjoy! There are as many recipes for Paella as there are villages in Spain, so you can adapt this recipe to suit your tastes. You can replace the seafood in this recipe with chicken and chorizo or even rabbit. The key to a great Paella is the base or "soffrito" so if you take the time to get that right, you can't go wrong.

Lastly, don't forget to add a squeeze of lemon right at the end.

You will need a 38cm Garcima Paella Pan (buy here) for this recipe which serves 6-8.

Ingredients

• 5 cups seafood or fish stock (homemade is best - with a little extra in reserve if needed)
• 2 tsp Antonio Sotos saffron threads (buy here)
• 4 tbsp La Chinata Extra Virgin Olive Oil (buy here)
• 2 medium brown onions, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 red peppers, roasted, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 6 fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 cups of Arroz Dacsa Bahia rice (buy here)
• 2 tsp Antonio Sotos Sweet Paprika (buy here)
• 1 sachet Antonio Sotos Paella Seasoning (buy here)
• 1 kg uncooked prawns
• 1 kg small cleaned calamari hoods, cut into rings
• 1kg mussels, cleaned and de-bearded
• Salt to taste (buy here)
• Lemon wedges to serve

Method

1. In a saucepan, combine the seafood stock and saffron and keep simmering over medium heat for 5 minutes or until you can see that the saffron has coloured the stock.
2. Heat olive oil in a 38cm Paella Pan (take care to follow instructions provided with Paella Pan to prepare the Pan for use). Add onion and garlic and sauté until golden.
3. Add tomatoes and red peppers (set aside some strips of the red pepper for presentation) and cook for a further 5 minutes or until most of the liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated.
4. Add rice and sweet paprika. Pour over the stock and bring to the boil. Cook over a medium heat without stirring for about 10 minutes.
5. Add the peas, prawns and calamari, making sure to distribute throughout the rice to allow even cooking. Cook for another 10 minutes or so, careful not to overcook the seafood and until rice is almost tender (rice should not be overcooked but just tender to the bite) and the stock has been absorbed. Season to taste.
6. NB: If your rice is becoming too dry, turn down the heat and add some more stock. The trick is to keep an eye on it but do not stir too much. Don't worry if your rice sticks a little to the bottom, this is a key feature of authentic Spanish Paella, Spaniards love to scrape it off the bottom, as long as it's not burnt.
7. Add mussels and cover with a clean cloth or tea towel. Allow to stand for 10 minutes, then present with the reserved strips of red pepper and lemon wedges arranged on top. Eat straight from the Paella Pan!