The Perfect Summer Paella Recipe
Hello all!!
Summer is my time for #yachtchef, cooking and sailing, my favourite.
I´m bringing you another of our Spanish national treasures, the PAELLA, or more correctly ARROZ DEL SENYORET, this is today´s recipe.
The idea that most people have of paella, doesn´t exist, sorry…. :-O Paella is actually the recipient in which the rice is made. A round, low pan with handles which can be put on log fire or gas, hopefully. It should be have a very big diameter, so the rice layer will be very thin (1 cm!)
Then we have PAELLA VALENCIANA, which is rice with vegetables and meat, normally chicken and rabbit (no seafood and meat and vegetables…)
The basic ingredients for a strict Paella are these and a good rice (round rice, bomba is great if you are a newbie to paella, since it will not overcook and it absorbs a lot of flavour. I use arroz J.Sendra, it´s perfect and you can buy it in Mercadona), good extra olive oil, and good produce which we can use to flavour our broth. In the case of paella Valenciana, the broth is made on the go, in the paella pan, with all the ingredients, then we would add the rice.
In Spain, all other rices that are not this paella valenciana, are simply called ARROZ (Rice) Paella name is used exclusively for the above and for selling whatever to tourists…sorry, but this is the way it goes.
Other rices can include anything, even chorizo. Poor Jamie Oliver was badly treated on social media when he did the paella with chorizo…It simply cannot be called Paella, it´s rice with vegetables and chorizo!
Sooo, I´ve decided to give you an easy peasy recipe for rice. It´s a typical rice that you can get in the Alicante area, it´s called ARROZ DEL SENYORET or also ARROZ CIEGO. Why? Because all the seafood is peeled, this way the Senyoret won´t have to dirty his hands 😀 I love this rice! Also, the seafood takes up less space in the pan, leaving room for the rice.
I actually made this rice in Sicily, in a normal frying pan, with an induction hob and with risotto rice, cannerolli…but it turned out quite good!!! I thought it would be helpful for you to know.
ARROZ DEL SENYORET (serves 4)
- 360 grs round rice
- 1 kg galeras for the broth (photo)
- 8 king prawns
- 750 grs squid
- 300 grs peeled shrimps
- 500 grs mussels
- 2 tomatos, grated
- Saffron
- ½ teaspoon of sweet pimentón (paprika)
- 200 ml extra virgin olive oil & salt
For the broth:
In a pot, with olive oil, sear the king prawns 1 minute on each side, high fire, then set aside. The same for the galeras, we want the maillard taste which we get when brown/toasted. Add water, 3 times the amount of rice + a tip (in this case I would go for 1400 grs), and the king prawns´head and skin. Raise to a boil and cook mid fire for 45 minutes.
Clean the mussels´shells and cook in pot with very little water (basically, we want vapour) salt and bay leaf, with the lid on, as soon as they open, we will set them aside, discard the shells, and finish cooking with the rice. Add the juices from cooking to our broth.
In the paella or pan: add salt all around to avoid burning, oil and once hot, the squid, cut. Do not touch! We have the tendency to swirl the product in the pan and it looses temperature…leave it 😊 once its done, set to the sides of the pan and add the peeled shrimp for 1 minute, make a hole in the middle and add the paprika, and quickly the grated tomato or else the paprika will burn and sour our rice. This is our “sofrito” which will add flavour. This you can stir. Once it starts to get stuck, add some water (aprox 100ml) and mix in all that you have in the pan. Let it cook for 3 minutes.
Take the pan out of the fire and add the saffron on top of the hot “sofrito” so it will not burn, but give away all the aromas.
We are now ready for the rice. Spread it around the pan and mix it well. This is the only mixing we will do from now on, or else we will end up with a risotto! Add the hot broth (1200 grs) and spread the rice evenly.
7 mins full fire, 5 minutes medium, 5 mins minimum. The last minute, I turn up the fire to get a crust (socarrat)
For a lot of rice and the traditional paella recipe, visit my friend´s David Montero´s IG https://www.instagram.com/ricepaella/?hl=es and his web https://rice-paella.com/
He has a beautiful book also, with lots of recipesfor creative rices (photo). And if you ever go to Valencia, contact him for a special Albufera tour and paella tasting or workshop. He´s the best!
Now, for a great experience in Madrid, our choice is:
Casa Benigna https://casabenigna.com/
Calle de Benigno Soto, 9
Casa Benigna is the home of Chef Norberto Jorge and his team. In his words «a house with a passion for human beings » .
It´s not only a place where you will eat the best rice, but also THE place for the most enjoyable « sobremesa » (the second best Spanish tradition, after siesta ! This is post lunch long talks ) Norberto has the most extensive knowledge on rice, cooking and life ! He´s a great talker, you will love the experience 😊
This is his philosophy :
And his tightly knit beautiful team of six :
Norberto even has his own patented container for cooking rice: la PATELLA.
Designed and developed by Norberto, it is the result of numerous experiments in search for excellence in the preparation of dry rice typical from Valencia, their especialty. Rice is cooked and served in the Patella, which also allows for numerous other elaborations.
You simply cannot miss Casa Benigna, with it´s amazing rices, great produce, a loong wine list with different denominations and beautiful philosophy. A must!
Moreinfo:https://chefinhousecatalina.com/club-de-foodies-viajeros/For cookery workshops, corporate events, showcookings, or personal Chef experiences:www.chefinhousecatalina.com
cbrennan@brasoc.com + 34 606 99 1073
Follow me in ig & fb @chefinhousecatalina @clubdefoodiesviajeros
