Surprise your Family with this Traditional Spanish Paella

Surprise your Family with this Traditional Spanish Paella

Spanish Paella

This authentic dish may look complicated, but it's actually much simpler than you might think.

Total Time 1 hour
Servings 8 sevings
Author Andrea Price

Ingredients

Herb Blend

  • 1 cup fresh parsley chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves minced

Paella

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp saffron threads
  • 3 cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 8 jumbo shrimp unpeeled
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 skinned, boned chicken thighs cut in half
  • 2 links Spanish chorizo sausage or turkey kelbasa cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
  • 1 slice prosciutto or 33% less-sodium ham cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 cups onion finely chopped
  • 1 cup red bell pepper finely chopped
  • 1 cup canned diced tomatoes undrained
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 3 large garlic cloves minced
  • 3 cups uncooked Arborio rice or other short-grain rice
  • 1 cup frozen green peas
  • 8 mussels scrubbed and debearded
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • lemon wedges optional

Instructions

  1. Let's get that herb blend ready. All you gotta do is combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Boom. Set it aside.

  2. Now for the paella proper. Combine water, saffron, and broth in a big saucepan. Bring it to a simmer (NOT a boil). Keep the pan warm on low heat. Peel and devein the shrimp, but leave the tails intact; set aside.

  3. Let's put it all together. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large paella pan (or large skillet if you don't have one) on medium-high heat. Add the chicken and saute it for 2 minutes on each side, then take it out of the pan (gonna be doing a lot of this). Add sausage and prosciutto, saute for 2 minutes, and remove it from the pan. Add shrimp, saute for 2 minutes, and remove it from the pan. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the onion and bell pepper and saute those guys for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes, paprika, and 3 garlic cloves, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the herb blend from step one, the broth mixture, chicken, sausage mixture, and peas. Bring the whole thing to a low boil and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the mussels to pan and nestle them into the rice mixture. Cook for 5 minutes or until shells open. You can ditch any shells that don't open. Arrange the shrimp, heads down, in the rice mixture, and cook for 5 minutes or whenever the shrimp are done. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup lemon juice. Take the pan off the heat, cover it with a towel, and let it stand for 10 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

 

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