Paella

this beat Bobby Flay!

Category
Dinner
Cuisine
Spanish
Serves
4-6
Time
60 minutes
From
Phil Price

paellarice

This is based on the recipe from Gerard Nebesky on the TV show Throwdown with Bobby Flay (he beat Bobby).

Note that the amounts have been scaled down to feed about 6-9 people, rather than the original 24-30 people

Ingredients

  • ½ cup olive oil (plus additional for serving)
  • 1 red bell pepper (cut into ½-inch-wide strips)
  • 1 dried nora or cascabel chili
  • Kosher salt
  • 6 chicken thighs (bone in and skin on)
  • 8 cloves garlic
  • 1 large yellow onion (diced)
  • 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 25 to 30 saffron threads
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 6-10 Littleneck clams
  • 2 cups medium-grain (bomba) rice
  • 6 jumbo shrimp
  • 6–8 mussels
  • 8 ounces green beans (cut into 2-inch pieces)
  • ½ cup canned chickpeas, drained
  • 8 ounces rockfish (cut into 2-inch chunks)
  • 2 Meyer lemons, cut into wedges
  • ¼ cup parsley, minced

Instructions

  1. Heat a 12-inch paella pan or other heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, red bell pepper and dried chili and sauté until lightly browned. Season with salt and remove everything but the chili from pan.
  2. Place the chicken in the same pan, skin side down, and brown thoroughly on all sides, about 8–10 minutes.
  3. Add onions and garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent, about 12 minutes.
  4. Add the diced tomatoes and cook until syrupy, about 10 minutes.
  5. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
  6. Crush the saffron threads and smoked paprika with a mortar and pestle, then stir into the sauce.
  7. After a half hour, stir in the rice and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Important: Do not stir or cover the rice
  8. As the rice cooks, add the vegetables and the garbanzo beans.
  9. During the final 10 minutes, poke the shrimp, fish and shellfish into the rice mixture so that they will cook.
  10. You will know the dish is done when you can smell the smoky odor of the rice caramelizing on the bottom of the pan, and all the liquid is absorbed by the rice
  11. Let the paella stand for five minutes
  12. Finish with squirts of lemon and leave lemon wedges in the paella pan or perched along the rim.

Notes

  • You can use mussels instead of, or as well as, clams, or just leave them out
  • I prefer boneless skinless thighs
  • I like to add peas or edamame as well
  • Chicken & artichoke hearts is also a pretty good combination (without the seafood)