Serves 6 | Best in a 15–17-inch paella pan
Ingredients
For the rice
- 2 cups Spanish Bomba or Calasparra rice
- 5–5½ cups seafood or fish stock, warmed
- ½ tsp saffron threads
- 1 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, very finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, diced or cut into thin strips
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 medium ripe tomatoes, grated (or about ¾ cup crushed tomatoes)
- Salt to taste
Seafood
- 1 lb large shrimp, shell-on if possible
- 1 lb mussels, cleaned and debearded
- 1 lb littleneck clams, scrubbed
- ½ lb calamari, cut into rings
- ½ lb firm white fish such as cod, grouper, snapper, or halibut, cut into chunks
To finish
- ½ cup frozen peas, optional
- Fresh parsley
- 2 lemons, cut into wedges
- Extra-virgin olive oil
Before you start
Warm the seafood stock and add the saffron. Let it steep for about 10 minutes.
One of the big differences between paella and something like risotto: once the rice is distributed in the pan, don’t stir it. That’s what helps create the texture and crispy bottom you’re after.
Make the paella
Heat your paella pan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil.
Season the shrimp lightly with salt and sear them for about 1 minute per side. You’re not trying to cook them completely. Remove and set aside.
Add the calamari and cook for about 1 minute, then remove it as well.
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and red pepper and cook for about 4–5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds.
Add the grated tomatoes and smoked paprika. Cook this mixture—your sofrito—until it becomes thick, darkens slightly and most of the liquid has cooked away, about 5–8 minutes.
Add the rice and stir it through the sofrito for about 1 minute, coating every grain.
Pour in approximately 5 cups of the warm saffron stock. Stir just enough to distribute the rice evenly across the pan.
Now stop stirring.
Bring it to a fairly lively simmer and cook for about 8 minutes.
Reduce to medium-low and continue cooking another 7–10 minutes.
About halfway through this second stage, nestle the clams and mussels hinge-side-down into the rice. Add the fish pieces.
During the final 5 minutes, arrange the shrimp and calamari over the top and scatter in the peas, if using.
If the rice looks dry before it’s tender, add a little more hot stock around the edges rather than stirring it in.
Getting the socarrat
When the rice is almost done and most of the liquid has disappeared, turn the heat up to medium-high for about 60–90 seconds.
Listen carefully. You want to hear a gentle crackling or sizzling from underneath the rice.
You’re trying to toast the bottom, not burn it. If you smell burning, immediately take the pan off the heat.
Remove the pan from the heat and loosely cover it with foil or a clean kitchen towel. Let the paella rest for 5–10 minutes.
Finish with chopped parsley and plenty of lemon wedges.
A few things I’d do differently for really good seafood paella
Use shell-on shrimp if your guests don’t mind peeling them—they add substantially more flavor. If you have shrimp shells, simmer them in your seafood stock beforehand.
Don’t overload the pan with seafood. The rice should still be the star of paella.
And I’d skip chorizo in this one. Chorizo can be delicious in rice dishes, but for a Spanish-style seafood paella, I prefer letting the saffron, tomato and seafood flavors come through.