12 July, 2022
Paella
Paella – Traditional
Servings 8 people
Equipment
- Paella pan (18 inch)
- Paella burner / large stovetop
Ingredients
- 14 oz San Marzano peeled tomatoes (can)
- 1 large sweet onion
- 1 tbsp Spanish paprika
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut in bite size pieces)
- 2.5 cups Bomba rice
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 lb extra jumbo shrimp ez-peel
- 1 pinch saffron
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 15 oz lima/butter beans (can)
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 tsp dried nora peppers
Instructions
Sofrito – Make ahead
- Roughly chop the garlic, ½ of the onion, and the tomatoes
- Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat
- Cook the onion for 3-4 minutes until translucent
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds before adding the tomatoes, paprika, and thyme
- Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. When finished, remove from heat and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Put the mixture in a blender or food processor and blend until there are no big chunks left. You want the consistency of a store bought salsa.
- Set the sofrito aside or refrigerate overnight
Paella
- Crush the saffron powder. Add the saffron to about 3 oz of hot water (around 100°) and set aside to steep
- Boil the beans for about 20 minutes in a small pot. Drain and set aside.
- Wile the beans are boiling, Cut the pepper in half lengthwise. Remove the core, seeds, and ribs. Dice one of the halves of the pepper. Cut the other lengthwise into strips about ¼ inch wide. Dice the remaining ½ onion
- Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in the paella pan over medium high heat
- Once shimmering, add the chicken to the pan and cook until a little browned on the outside. Don't cook all the way through. Once the chicken is browned on the outside, remove it from the pan
- Add the onions and diced peppers to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes stirring constantly.
- Add the sofrito you pre-made to the pan and continue to stir for another 2 minutes
- Add the beans and the meat back into the pan
- Add all of the broth and saffron water into the pan.
- Sprinkle the Nora pepper around the pan
- Use a spoon/spatula to arrange the ingredients in the pan evenly the way you will want them served. You won't be stirring the pan again!
- Spread the rice evenly over the broth. Use your spoon/spatula to make sure all the rice is submerged.
- Bring the broth to a boil.
- Once the broth is boiling, lower the heat so that it barely keeps the boil going.
- Arrange the bell pepper strips around the top of the rice in a nice presentation pattern. Sprinkle on the parsley
- Wait. Don't touch the rice!
- After about 15 minutes arrange the shrimp on top of the rice as you want. After 3 minutes, use tongs to flip the shrimp over. They should be pink on one side by now.
- When all of the liquid is absorbed into the rice, turn the heat up a little. You should start to get a "toasty" smell and hear some crackling from the pan. This is the socarrat forming. Let it go for about 2-3 minutes. Before turning off the heat and removing the pan. But if you start to get any burnt smell, remove the pan from the heat immediately.
- Cover the pan with foil and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
- Serve directly from the pan. Make sure to give everyone some of the socarrat rice!
Notes
If you use a stovetop, you will need to rotate the pan every 2-3 minutes to make sure the heat is distributed evenly around the pan. Put the pan off-center over the burner so every part of the pan ends up with the same exposure to heat.
If you can’t find San Marzano tomatoes, use regular tomato sauce.
It is best to make the sofrito the night before so that the flavors can blend overnight.