Noodles & Rice · European
Paella
Cook Now472kcal32.7g protein18g fat45.1g carbs~$2.67/ serving*Estimates computed from the ingredient list; cost uses average US supermarket prices. Not a substitute for packaging measurements or your receipt.
No porkNo alcohol
Contains: shellfish
Ingredients
Servings:
| 1 cup | rice (short grain, bomba or calasparra) |
| 2 ½ cup | chicken stock (hot) |
| 1 pinch | saffron (threads, bloomed in a little hot stock) |
| 10 oz | chicken (thighs, bone in, cut in pieces) |
| 6 oz | shrimp (shell on) |
| 3 tbsp | olive oil |
| 1 unit | onion (finely diced) |
| 3 clove | garlic (minced) |
| 1 unit | tomato (grated, skins discarded) |
| 1 unit | pepper (bell, red, sliced in strips) |
| 1 tsp | paprika (smoked) |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| 8 unit | clams (scrubbed)optional |
| ½ cup | peas (green, scattered at the end)optional |
| 4 oz | green beans (flat, in 2 inch lengths)optional |
| 1 unit | lemon (wedges, to serve)optional |
| 2 tbsp | parsley (chopped)optional |
Method
- sear10 minwide shallow pan, olive oil, high, chicken skin down and undisturbedchicken pieces browned hard on both sides, then set aside. Do the shrimp for thirty seconds a side and remove them too — they need about two minutes total and would be rubber by the end. The browned residue left in the pan is the base of everything that follows
- sweat8 minmedium-low, in the chicken fat+ onion + pepper strips until soft, then + garlic + smoked paprika for thirty seconds. Paprika scorches almost instantly and turns acrid — it goes in off the direct heat if necessary, and never before the liquid is close behind
- reduce6 mingrated tomato in, medium, until jammy and darkened+ tomato, cooked down until the pan is nearly dry and the mixture has gone from red to brick. This sofrito is the flavour floor of the dish, and rushing it leaves a raw tomato edge that two litres of stock cannot cover
- toast2 minrice dry into the sofrito, stirred to coat+ rice, turned through the fat until every grain is glossy. This is the last moment stirring is allowed. Coating the grains in fat slows water uptake slightly so they cook evenly rather than bursting at the ends
- simmer20 minhot stock and saffron in, chicken returned, spread level, NOT stirred again+ saffron stock + salt + chicken (+ beans, + clams hinge-down), shaken once to level and then left completely alone at a steady low simmer. Not stirring is what allows the starch to stay on the grains and a crust to form beneath — stir a paella and you have made a risotto. Scatter the peas and return the shrimp for the last three minutes
- char1 minheat raised, 30-60 seconds, judged by soundthe base to make the socarrat: listen for the simmer to stop and a faint crackle to start, and smell for toasted rather than burnt. Pull it the moment it smells of caramel — the window between crust and ruin is under thirty seconds, and you cannot see any of it
- rest5 minoff the heat, covered with a cloth not a lidso the last of the moisture evens out through the grains. A cloth lets steam escape while holding heat; a lid returns condensation to the surface and softens the crust you just made (+ parsley, + lemon)