The very first time I tried seafood paella was in Faro, Portugal. There was an amazing seafood festival happening there in August. The food was just amazing, and all possible seafood you can imagine and the aroma of the freshly fried or grilled seafood, is just unbelievable.
Since then I wanted to prepare this amazing dish myself at home. And here is the recipe for an awesome Seafood Paella, hat can be prepared at home with ingredients that are usually available in every supermarket or a a fish market.
It is pretty easy to make, can be prepared in under 30 minutes. Just keep an eye on the rice, not to over cook it or burn it.
Like any great recipe, we start with peeling, chopping and frying the onion. 🙂 When the onion is soft and translucent, in about 4 minutes, we add the garlic, tomatoes and the spices.
Cook the mixture until the tomatoes reduce to a sauce like texture. It will take about 3-4 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally, to prevent burning.
Add the seafood mixture. I had a 400 gram bag with frozen seafood mix. First they needed to be thawed though. In the bag there was cuttlefish, mussels and small shrimps.
In the meantime, in a medium saucepan, bring to boil the fish or chicken stock and white wine. Once boiling, turn the heat to low and keep at a simmer.
Once the seafood mix has been added, cook stirring for about 2-3 minutes, and then add the rice. I had Arborio rice, but if you have you can use Spanish paella rice.
Mix the rice with the sauce, until it is fully coated.
Pour about 4 cups of the boiling stock/wine mixture over the rice. Stir through and spread the rice evenly over the pan. Do not stir again.
Bring to boil, turn the heat to low and cook for bout 18-20 minutes, moving the pan around and rotating it, to ensure even cooking of the rice.
After about 10 minutes have passed, lay out the king shrimps on top of the rice. Cook until the shrimps are pink on the bottom and flip to the other side.
If you hear crackling noises from the frying pan or the rice looks too dry, add a bit more hot stock/wine mix. Keep adding more if needed until the rice is cooked through.
Once the rice is cooked through, remove from heat, cover with aluminium foil and allow to stand for a few minutes.
In the meantime prepare the mussels. Fill a large pot with about 1 finger high with water, add the mussels. Cover with a tight lid and bring to boil. Turn the heat down to medium and steam the mussels until the open up. Discard any mussels that did not open.
Serve paella warm, garnished with steamed mussels and freshly chopped parsley.
Enjoy!
Seafood Paella
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 5 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil, for frying
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped or pressed
- 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and cubed
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- pinch of salt, to taste
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika or pimento dulce
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric (curcuma)
- 400 grams seafood mix (squid, cuttlefish, small shrimps, mussels, etc)
- 2 cups Spanish paella rice or Arborio rice
- 3 cups fish or chicken stock, plus more if needed
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 12 king shrimps in their shells, do not peel
- 16 medium mussels, scrubbed and debearded
Instructions
- Heat up the oil in a large paella pan or a large deep frying pan, over medium heat.Add the onion and fry until it becomes soft and translucent, about 4 minutes.
- Add the garlic and, stirring often, fry for about 1 minute or until it just starts to get color.Add the tomatoes, sugar, salt, cumin, paprika, and turmeric. Stir well, and cook until tomatoes are reduced to a sauce like texture. About 3 minutes.
- In the meantime in a medium saucepan, bring to boil the fish or chicken stock and wine. Turn the heat to low and keep at a simmer until needed.
- Add the seafood mix and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Add the rice, stir well until all the grains are covered.
- Once all the rice is coated in sauce, pour the simmering stock and wine mixture over the rice. Stir through well and spread the rice out evenly in the pan. Do not stir again.Bring to boil, then turn heat to low and cook the rice for about 18-20 minutes, rotating the pan, on the stove top, once in a while, to ensure even cooking.
- When the rice have been cooking for about 10 minutes, lay the king shrimps over the top and cook until they become pink on the lower side.Flip the shrimps to the other side and allow to cook through.
- If the rice seem a bit too dry and you can hear crackling noises, add a bit more hot stock. Add more if needed later again.
- When the rice is cooked through take it off the heat, cover the pan with tin foil and allow to stand for a few minutes.
- In the meantime steam the mussels. In a large pot, add about 1 finger of water, add the mussels, cover tightly with a lid. Once the mussels open, they are ready. Discard any mussels that did not open up.
- Serve the paella warm, garnished with mussels and chopped parsley.
- Enjoy!
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