Seafood Paella without the Special Pan (Paella de Marisco)

Traditional paella is cooked in a large, wide pan which... let’s face it, many of us outside of Spain probably don’t have on hand (if you do, lucky you). In Spain, paella is usually cooked over live wood fire, which pairs nicely with the paella pan (called a paellera) because the flame fully engulfs the pan, something that can be challenging when working on a normal sized burner. As for the proteins, you could add other seafood like clams, squid or do something like chicken legs, rabbit (lots of butchers carry it) and rosemary, or go straight vegetarian and decorate the rice with tasty seasonal veg.

I should mention that some cooks might not consider this dish paella, but Arroz con Cosas or "rice with stuff." To those people I say... "cool." Call it what you want... I don't care. At the end of the day, I consider this to be my version of paella, and it's delicious.🤘🏻 Adam

Yield: 4-6

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Any-Pan Seafood Paella

Cook time: 45 MinTotal time: 45 Min

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for serving
• 1 medium Yellow Onion, diced
• 1 medium Green Bell Pepper, diced
• 1 medium Red Bell Pepper, diced
• 6 Garlic cloves, minced
• 2 medium Tomatoes, pulp only
• 6 ounces Spanish Chorizo, small diced
• 1 Tbsp Spanish Smoked Paprika
• 1 tsp Saffron
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 1/2 cups Bomba Rice (or Calasparra)
• 4 1/2 cups Fish or Chicken Stock
• 10 small Mussels, rinsed and cleaned
• 6-8 medium Shrimp, shell on
• 10 ounce Monkfish Filet
• Fresh Parsley, garnish
• Lemon Wedges, garnish
• Crunchy Salt, garnish
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, garnish

Instructions

1. Begin by preparing your sofrito: mince the garlic, grate the tomato, dice the onions and peppers and set those aside. Dice some Spanish chorizo as well for your flavor base.
2. In your widest, shallowest pan (12-15 inches), heat a quarter cup of olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions, peppers, and garlic, seasoning with a pinch of salt. Sweat the vegetables for about 10 minutes, or until they release their water and shrink in size.
3. Add in the tomato pulp, another pinch of salt, and continue cooking until the mixture has reduced to a pseudo paste. Add a tablespoon of smoked paprika and six ounces of diced Spanish chorizo, cooking for a few more minutes.
4. Pour in your best quality chicken stock over the sofrito-chorizo mixture and add a bay leaf. If you can, add some saffron for a special, unique flavor and color.
5. Sprinkle about a cup and a half of Bomba rice over the simmering sofrito-stock mixture, evenly distributing it. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil for 5 minutes, then reduce to medium heat and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
6. After 10 minutes, add your choice of seafood - shrimp, mussels, monkfish, etc. - and let cook for another 5 minutes. Then, cover and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the mussels are open, the shrimp is pink, and the fish is opaque.
7. Increase the heat back to high and let the dish finish cooking for about 5 minutes, or just until the moisture is gone and the rice begins to lightly crackle. Let the paella rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
8. If desired, garnish with parsley, lemon wedges, olive oil, and a crunchy textured salt. Enjoy!

Adam's Notes

Cooking Time Chart:

1. Start on high heat - 5 minutes

2. Reduce to medium heat and continue simmering - 5 minutes *place in seafood*

3. Cook uncovered - 5 minutes

4. *Cover* and cook - 5-10 minutes

5. Uncover, increase heat to high and finish - 5 minutes

6. Let rest 5-10 minutes.

** Think 5/5/5/10/5

Cooking time varies by strength of burners, the pan, and a few other things. Times given.