AliLarter.com

August 13, 2013

This is my friend Sandra’s paella recipe, she’s an amazing chef, not to mention a stunning beauty. Now a local LA girl by way of Spain via Amsterdam, she can really cook. We made a seafood, chorizo, and, chicken paella but what I learned from her is that you can add any combo of veggies, meats, and seafood that you’d like. 1 hour start to finish, can’t wait to make it again on a Saturday night.

How to make Paella !

First, you will need a 15-16 inch paella pan, they sell them everywhere nowadays and if you make sure you oil them after washing (just like your cast iron pans), it will last for life.

“MAR Y TIERRA” PAELLA (1 paella for 6):

⅓ cup olive oil
1lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1lb chicken thighs skinned and deboned, cut into 1 inch pieces
1lb squid, cut into rings
1 cup tomato Sofrito
2½ cups paella rice, (bomba or other short grain rice)
2 cups clam juice
3 cups chicken stock
1½ tsp pimienton dulce (Spanish sweet paprika)
1 tsp saffron threads
1 Chorizo sausage, sliced
1 cup manzanilla green olives
Serve with:
2 lemons
1 baguette
Tomato Sofrito (makes 3 cups):
¼ cup olive oil
2 red onions
3 garlic cloves
1 can plum tomatoes (28 oz)
3 dried nora peppers (or one ancho chile)
½ dried spicy pepper
salt and pepper.

Sweat onions and garlic in olive oil, 5 minutes, add tomatoes, simmer for 45 minutes, until it’s a nice thick sauce.

Remove stalk and seeds from the Nora peppers and spicy pepper and cover with hot water in a bowl and soak for 15 minutes and then add to the tomato mixture.

When done run through a food mill and add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 3 cups.

Paella:

Heat the clam juice, chicken stock and saffron in a sauce pan, but don’t boil.

Heat olive oil in paella pan, add shrimp, and saute for a couple of minutes until they are cooked.

Remove from the pan and set aside in a bowl covered with aluminum foil.

Add the chicken pieces to the pan and saute about 5 minutes until brown.

Add the squid and cook a few more minutes, then move both to the outside of the pan.

Add rice, then sofrito, then pimienton and last the hot stock. Taste the broth and add salt and pepper. Stir all the ingredients together and spread evenly over the pan. Set the timer for 20 minutes, bring the whole thing to a boil for about 5 minutes and then simmer for the rest of the time.

Now, no more stirring! You can shake and rotate the pan so it cooks evenly, but keep that spoon out of there!  You can also use two burners under the paella pan instead of just one for a little more evenly distributed heat.

After 15 minutes when the liquid is almost completely absorbed add the cooked shrimp, olives and chorizo to the paella for the last 5 minutes.

When the 20 minutes are up, turn the burners off and let the paella sit for 5 minutes.  It will continue cooking a bit.  If the rice is still a little hard cover with foil (it will steam).  If it’s right then let it sit uncovered, or you can cover with a clean kitchen towel.

Serve with lemon and baguette. Que Aproveche !

For more recipes and videos follow Chef Sandra on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/chefsandracordero