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A beautiful Spanish princess was traveling through a small village in Southern Spain. The princess and her entourage stopped to rest and dine in a wayside inn. The owner of the inn was a young man and when he saw the princess he was enthralled by her beauty. He went into the kitchen and told his help that he would personally prepare dinner for the princess and her party. Into the earthen casserole went the finest seafood, beef and fowl he had in the larder, seasoned with exquisite wines from his cellar, olive oil, onions, peppers, fresh tomatoes, peas, asparagus, and rice, vegetables grown in his vegetable patch. When the casserole was placed before her Royal Highness and uncovered, the aroma filled the little dining room, enchanting the appetite of the frail and beautiful princess. She ate heartily of her supper and when she finished she called the mozo and told him how much she enjoyed her supper. She wanted the name of the delicious dish. The mozo turned to his master. However, since he had concocted the casserole on the spur of the moment, he had no name for it. So he told the mozo it was called paella-- translation --"for her" |
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Seafood Paella
1/2lb. shrimp, peeled (reserve the shells for broth)
Pinch of saffron threads
Salt to taste and/or vegetable bouillon
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 lb scallops
1/2 onion, grated on the largest holes of a box grater
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 ripe tomato, halved and grated on the largest holes of a box grater (discard the skin)
1 1/2 cups medium grain rice
1 lemon, cut in wedges for garnish
1 small jar artichoke hearts
1 red bell pepper sliced
8 or more mussels |
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In a medium saucepan, boil 3 1/2 cups of salted water. Add the shrimp shells and simmer, covered, for about 10 min. Strain the broth, and return it to the saucepan. Toast the saffron gently, crush the threads with the back of a spoon, and add to the shrimp shell broth. Taste for salt; the broth should be well-seasoned. (Iuse a little veggie bouillon instead of salt) In a 14-inch paella pan, heat the oil on high. When the oil is hot, sauté the shrimp and scallops until almost cooked through. Set aside. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté the onion and garlic until the onion softens, about 5 min. Add the tomato and season with salt, sauté until the mixture, called the sofrito, has darkened and is a thick purée, 10 to 15 min. Bring broth back to a simmer. When the tomato-onion sofrito is ready, add rice to the pan. Sauté until the rice loses its opaqueness, about 1 min. Increase the heat to medium-high. Pour in 3 cups of the simmering broth (reserving the remaining 1/2 cup) and stir or shake the pan to evenly distribute the rice in the pan. Add artichoke hearts and bell peppers. Bring the liquid to a boil. From this point on, do not stir the rice.
Cook the paella on medium-high, rotating and moving the pan to distribute the heat. Add mussels by submerging them in the broth to cook on top of the rice. When the rice begins to appear above the liquid, after 8 to 10 min., reduce the heat to medium low. Continue to simmer, rotating the pan as necessary, until the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 min. more. Taste a grain of rice just below the top layer; it should be al dente. (If the rice is not done add more broth to the pan and cook a few minutes more. Arrange the shrimp and scallops in the pan. Cover with aluminum foil and cook gently for another 2 min. to help ensure that the top layer of rice is evenly cooked. With the foil still in place, increase the heat to medium-high and, rotating the pan, cook for about 2 min., until the bottom layer of rice starts to caramelize, creating the socarrat. The rice may crackle somewhat, but if it starts burning, remove the pan from the heat immediately. Let the paella rest off the heat, still covered, for 5 min. |
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