Paella is a Spanish dish which is very popular in the Philippines. Surprisingly, lots of people here in Australia have become familiar with Paella, perhaps because Australia is a multicultural country where there’s always a culinary feast in its most popular places and restaurants.
I was always hesitant to cook Paella because the look of the dish itself was very complicated for me. I have cooked a variety of Italian Risottos like Mushroom Risotto, Green Pea Risotto, Spinach Risotto, Pumpkin Risotto, Chicken Risotto, name it, but there is nothing like Paella which has the blend of flavors from my favorite seafood. Note that the big difference between Italian Risotto and Paella is that, Risotto has one or two main ingredient/s with the arborio rice, while Paella is a pool of seafood as well as herbs and spices.
Paella A La 'Chen'
When our friend Chen introduced the Paella in her Facebook post a couple of months ago, I was so excited to cook it again. All my favorite seafood are in the list of ingredients, plus most importantly, her recipe promised an “easy” way to cook it. This recipe is from www.foodnetwork.com which Chen shared in her page and compilation of recipes.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 chicken legs with skin
Salt
Pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1 bay leaf
2 links spicy sausage, sliced
2 cups chopped canned tomatoes
1 tablespoon paprika
2 cups rice
5 cups chicken stock
6 clams, scrubbed and soaked in cold water to remove sand
6 mussels, scrubbed
6 shrimp, shelled and de-veined
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
Directions
In a large heavy casserole pan, heat oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper and brown in pan. Remove meat to a plate. Stir in onion and peppers and cook until tender. Stir in bay leaf and sausage and cook until sausage is browned. Stir in rice and cook for 2 minutes. Return chicken to pan. Add chopped tomatoes. Pour in chicken stock and stir to combine. Season with paprika. Bring to a simmer, cover cook for 20 to 30 minutes over medium heat. When rice is nearly done, add extra water if necessary, and stir in clams, mussels and shrimp. Cook for 10 more minutes and stir in peas. Serve hot.
Is not that too easy? Since Chen gave me this recipe I have already cooked this twice: on Valentine’s dinner for my husband and less than a week after that. I should have taken a photo of my own version of Paella but it was so funny that I forgot to take a photo and only remembered when the dinner were finished. I was so excited to eat!
Toni’s Paella version and suggestions: I cooked my Paella with fresh squid rings as well (aside from mussels, prawns, vongole/clams and fish fillets). I bought a couple of baby squid, clean them and remove the thin outside layer until what’s left was the white flesh.
I used additional herbs & seasoning aside from paprika. I added few strings of dried saffron and a couple of dried bay leaf. Be careful not to put lots of saffron because the flavor and aroma is too strong, unless you really love saffron.
I did not put sausages in my Paella because I thought that my husband won’t like too much of everything mixed up besides seafood. I added John Dory fish fillets instead.
The flavor of the chicken together with the seafood was divine! My husband have never had paella with chicken in it. He knew that paella has only seafood in it. He used to eat seafood paella in a restaurant in the city which he reckons has the best paella in Sydney. The paella I cooked on Valentine’s dinner had chicken in it and hubby loved it. The second paella which I cooked on ash wednesday dinner had no chicken in it but mere seafood. Hubby said he preferred the first version.
Paella can also be cooked with halved crabs which I will try next time I cook this.
Bon apetit!
