Seafood paella is surely the most well-known and recreated dish of Spanish cuisine worldwide.

A triumph of colors and flavors, paella has long crossed borders to become known to us: an exceptional dish.

As with all these traditional dishes, there is no single recipe, but everyone makes it their own way.

Today I am sharing my version, which is appreciated and devoured in my home.

Paella is always a rich, abundant, and colorful dish, extremely satisfying and delicious!

In Spain, a specific iron pan is used, positioned on special burners that can distribute the same amount of heat across the entire diameter.

To prepare paella at home, you can choose a wide pan with low edges.

The width of this pan is essential for preparing paella, which, unlike risotto, must be COOKED WITHOUT STIRRING, gradually absorbing all the cooking liquid.

Therefore, it is fundamental that the RICE IS DISTRIBUTED IN ONE LAYER, not too thick, so that it remains easily submerged and cooks evenly without being stirred.

The layer at the bottom of the paellera, which remains crunchier and toasted, is considered the most delicious part of the dish!

For a flawless paella, you need Bomba rice, a Spanish variety with round grains characterized by good liquid absorption. If you can’t find it, you can use Vialone Nano or a good Carnaroli.

Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Medium
Preparation time: 1 Hour
Portions: 4/6
Cooking methods: Stove
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: All Seasons

Ingredients for Seafood Paella

400 g Bomba rice (or Carnaroli or Vialone Nano)
10 langoustines
800 g mussels
10 shrimps
800 clams (lupin and veraci)
130 g frozen peas
2 bell peppers (1 red and 1 green)
garlic
Half onion
200 g tomato puree
2 sachets saffron
to taste salt
pepper
lemon (optional)
chili pepper (a tip)
shellfish (the shells)
1400 ml water
Half white onion
1 clove garlic
Half glass dry white wine
45 g butter
to taste salt

Tools

Paellera
Pans

Steps for Seafood Paella

To prepare the Seafood Paella, first, we clean and prepare the fish.

Leave the clams for a few hours in plenty of salted water to purge any impurities.
Rinse the langoustines and make an incision on the belly to remove the vein.
Clean the shrimps by removing heads and shells and set aside.

Prepare the shellfish broth.
In a saucepan, put the butter, once melted add the chopped onion and garlic.
Let it flavor and then add the shellfish shells, allowing them to sauté well.
Deglaze with the wine, add the water.
It should completely cover everything.
Add parsley and salt.
Let it simmer on low heat for about 35 minutes. It should reduce by about half.
Strain it with a sieve and our broth is ready.
First, pass the mussels under running water.
Use a small knife to scrape their surface to remove all encrustations or residues that would be unpleasant to find in the finished dish.
A little secret: I have always done well with this method.
Wash them under running water.
(Place some mussels in a plastic bag, add plenty of coarse salt, and close it. Place the closed bag inside another bag.
Rub the mussels inside the bag for about 5 minutes.
Open the bag, empty the mussels into a colander, and rinse them under running water to remove residues)
Let the mussels open and shell most of them.
Set aside some mussels with shells and the filtered liquid.
Let the clams open on high heat, stirring.
Then cover with a lid and let them open.
Shell most of the clams and lupins.
Set aside some clams with shells and the filtered liquid.
Take the paellera (I don’t have it but used a similar large, wide, and flat pan) place the oil, garlic, add the shellfish, and cook for 2 minutes.
Then remove them and set them aside.
In the same pan, add the chopped onion, chili pepper.
Add the frozen peas and red and green bell peppers, previously washed, dried, and chopped.
Cook for 8 minutes, if necessary add half a glass of water.
Remove the garlic and add the tomato puree, extend it with the shellfish broth and the liquid from the mussels and clams.
Season with saffron and add the rice.
Add shelled mussels and clams, some shrimps and langoustines and season everything.
Stir a little, cook for 13/15 minutes. (Check the cooking times on the package)
The rice should cook by absorption, so it should no longer be stirred.
Be cautious with the liquids and salt.
(Broth can be added if necessary but should not be stirred).
Paella is not creamed.
It should be cooked gently, slowly, and consistently.
After the cooking time, the rice should be dry and almost stuck to the pan, at this point, turn off the heat and garnish with shrimps, langoustines, mussels, and clams that we set aside, decorate to your taste, it should still be very rich.
Serve our seafood paella directly from the paellera.
Decorate with a few slices of lemon, optional.
Then each guest will serve themselves.
Enjoy your meal and what a delight.

Tips

For cooking paella, the amount of broth to pour will have to be evaluated. You will need about 4 times the broth for 1 of rice.

Prepare a little extra broth in any case. If the rice is not sufficiently cooked, you can always extend it with more broth, the essential thing is that it is completely absorbed at the end of cooking.

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