Paella with Seafood # 1
Paella di Mariscos
Region: Spain, Valencia
Category: Rice, Couscous, and Other Grains
Season: Any
Difficulty: Labor Intensive

For starters, you will want to read some background at Paella and la Cocina Levantina.   You will need an 18-inch steel paella pan to do this recipe. The home of paella is the city and province of Valencia on Spain's Mediterranean coast. There are two kinds of traditional paella, this one with seafood and paella di pollo, with chicken. Another paella tradition is that it is made in the open air over a propane-fired burner and is prepared by the man of the house. The familiar mixing of seafood and meat is not traditional in paella but is today quite common because of the tourist industry. The final rice dish should be sticky, not wet like a risotto and not dry like a pilaf. One never rinses the rice and one never stirs the rice once it is in the paella, except at the very beginning to disperse the rice around the paella pan. If you can't find Spanish-style chorizo sausage, do not use Mexican chorizo which is an entirely different sausage. It is better to use Italian sausage or kielbasa.The paella pan can be bought on-line at www.donajuana.com. (The photo does not necessarily represent this particular recipe).

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 10 servings
Preparation Time: 4 hours

1 1/2 cups roasted dried lima beans, soaked for 24 hours in water to cover, drained		8 Spanish-style chorizo sausages (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
For the seafood stock:
1 pound fish carcasses and head     8 large prawns or 15 jumbo shrimp, both fresh and with their heads preferably, shells removed but heads left on or 2 pounds live crayfish     1 medium onion, quartered     1 carrot, cut up     1 celery stalk, cut up     1 small leek, split lengthwise, washed well, and cut up		1 bay leaf     3 sprigs fresh parsley     1 long piece of orange peel     10 peppercorns       Water to cover     1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed slightly in a mortar     1/2 cup dry white wine
For the paella:
1 pound yellowtail, cut into 8 pieces     1 pound monkfish, cut into 8 pieces       Salt to taste     two 1 1/4-pound live lobsters     3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil     1 medium onion, chopped     1 head garlic (about 12 cloves), separated and finely chopped     1 roasted red bell pepper, cut into strips     4 tomatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds), cut in half, seeded squeezed out, and grated against the largest holes of a standing grater down to the peel		1 tablespoon sweet Spanish paprika     3 1/2 cups medium-grain rice, such as Calasparra or a Japanese Botan rice     1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley leaves     1 bay leaf, crumbled     16 littleneck clams, washed and scrubbed well     16 large mussels, de-bearded, washed and scrubbed well     1 1/2 cups fresh Italian-style beans (runner beans), previously blanched in boiling water, cut into 2-inch lengths       Allioli for serving

1. Place the dried lima beans in a saucepan of water to cover and bring to a boil. Cook until almost tender, about 1 1/2 hours, adding a little salt. Drain and set aside.

2. In a medium skillet, cook the chorizo sausage until firm and cooked through, cut in half and reserve.

3. Prepare the seafood stock for the paella. Put the fish carcasses and prawn/ shrimp shells in a stock pot with the onion, carrot, celery, leek, bay leaf, parsley, orange peel, peppercorns, and water to cover and bring to a near boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer 2 hours partially covered. Strain through a chinoise (conical strainer), discarding everything but the liquid. Salt very lightly, then strain again through a cheesecloth-lined strainer. Reserve 7 cups. Stir in the saffron and wine.

4. Prepare a charcoal fire in a kettle barbeque that is at least 21-inches in diameter. Season the fish with salt. In an 18-inch paella pan placed over the grating of the barbeque, heat the olive oil. If cooking over a stove top, remember that the pan is too large for one burner, so set it over medium heat over two burners and rotate often. Add the fish and cook until it turns color on both sides, about 2 minutes, turning once. Remove the fish and set aside. Add the shrimp and cook until they turn orange-red, about 1 minute. Remove and set aside.

5. Cut up the live lobster, saving any tomalley and coral and the lobster bodies for another purpose, by splitting the tail section in half lengthwise and then cutting each half into 3 portions. Cut the arms into three portion and cut the claws in half. Add 1/4 cup olive oil to the paella pan. Place the lobster in the paella pan and cook until the shells are orange, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

6. Add the chopped onion, garlic, and red bell pepper to the paella pan and cook until the vegetables are ready to start burning, about 1 minute, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn, then add the tomatoes and paprika and cook another 1 to 2 minutes, stirring. Add the rice, reserved chorizo sausage, parsley, and bay leaf and stir so all the grains are coated. Pour in the seafood stock. Add the clams and mussels and push them down into the broth. Add the runner beans, lima beans, and lobster and/or crayfish to the pan, pushing them down into the broth. Place the fish and shrimp on top, without pushing them down into the broth and cook, uncovered, never stirring or poking, until the broth is absorbed and the rice is sticky and tender and the clams and mussels have opened, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the fire, cover with a kitchen towel and let sit 10 minutes before serving. Serve with allioli.

Note:  An authentic paella never mixes landfood with seafood--it's one or the other, and usually either seafood paella or chicken paella. 

Posted: 01/11/2007

Needed Recipes:

Allioli or Aioli