Paella Recipe

I recently posted a recipe for Salmorejo Cordobés, a great cold soup we tried while in Spain. 

Salmorejo Cordobés

After posting a photo of my first attempt at paella, I received a lot of requests for the recipe and I am keeping my promise to post the recipe here. 


So, first I'll repost the photo I took of that first pan of paella as a teaser. If it looks good to you, believe me, it tasted as good as it looked.  It is modeled after the paella we had at Ayo's Restaurant on the beach on the Costa del Sol. Here it is!

My first paella

Ayo's Paella

1/2 chicken; cut up into pieces
1 medium onion; chopped
4-5 cloves garlic; minced
1 whole ripe tomato; peeled, chopped
2 cup long-grain white rice
3 cups chicken broth
1 pinch of saffron
1 lb shrimp (raw, medium-size)
1 lb sea scallops
1/2 lb squid
salt and pepper; to taste
6-10 fresh clams


You can also use other meats such as mussels, white fish cut in chunks, good sausage, whatever looks good and is available in the marketplace. Also, while not absolutely necessary, a good paella pan is traditional in preparing this dish. They are available in  many fine cooking stores.

Preparation:

In a large paella pan add olive oil and heat to brown chicken pieces. Remove chicken and add onions, garlic and chopped tomatoes. Cook unit very soft almost like a paste. Add the rice and stir until completed coated with sofito. Add saffron to hot chicken broth and add to rice in pan. Add chicken, and remaining fish to pan and let the liquid boil until the rice begins to open.


At this point you can let it continue to cook on top of range or you can put pan into a 300 degree oven and cook until rice is done approximate 25 minutes. Before putting into the oven or when rice is almost cooked you can add 6-10 clams. When ready to serve sprinkle peas, pimentos, and artichokes over the rice. Enjoy!

Sofito Preparation:


Use the amounts listed of the following items from the ingredient list above:


Onion
Garlic
Tomatoes
salt and pepper


Cook onions until opaque, add in garlic followed by the tomatoes. Cook until softened. Set aside. Make a day ahead if you like and refrigerate. Add salt and pepper to taste.