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Seafood Paella

Seafood Paella - A Tapas Experience
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Seafood Paella - an impressive presentation of a classic Spanish dish. The flavors mingle together and are fantastic on your taste buds. This recipe was adapted from bonappetit.com.  It looks complicated but it is quite easy, just a little time-consuming.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 large jalepeño chile, coarsely chopped
  • ⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 10 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • 3-4 skinned, boned chicken thighs (about 12 oz), quartered
  • 6 ounces pancetta (Italian bacon), cut into ½-inch pieces
  • 6 ounces chorizo, remove casing and cut into ½-inch pieces
  • 1 large Spanish or sweet onion, finely chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, cut into ½-inch strips
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into ½-inch strips
  • 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 3/4 cup dry Sherry
  • 3 cups calasparra rice (paella rice)
  • 6 cups chicken stock
  • 4 wide strips orange zest
  • 1 teaspoon saffron threads
  • 14 mussels, scrubbed
  • 6 green onions, trimmed
  • 8 ounces haricot verts, trimmed
  • 14 large head-on, shell-on shrimp
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 3 lemons, quartered

Instructions

  • Add the jalapeño, parsley and 6 tablespoons of olive oil to a food processor and puree until the mixture is smooth. Add kosher salt to taste. Set aside.
  • In a large paella pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and sautée two minutes on each side. Remove from the pan. Reduce heat to medium, and add pancetta. Cook until browned and crisp, 4-5 minutes. Add chorizo to pancetta, stir until chorizo is warmed and remove from the pan. Add onions and peppers to the pan and sauté until soft, 8-10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add both paprikas and garlic and cook until fragrant for about 1 minute. Add sherry to the pan and bring to a soft boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the liquid is almost evaporated, 4-5 minutes. Add rice to the pan and stir until it is coated. Cook until it becomes somewhat translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in broth and orange zest along with saffron. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Bring to boil and reduce heat and simmer until rice is almost tender - 15 minutes.
  • Pull out the orange zest, add chicken, pancetta, and chorizo to the pan.  Nestle the mussels into the rice mixture. Cook until the mussels begin to open, 12-15 minutes. Cover with foil and cook until the mussels are fully opened (discard any that do not open), about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep covered. Let it steam for about 10 minutes.
  • While the paella is cooking, heat a cast iron grill to medium high heat. In three separate bowls, toss the green onions, haricot verts, and shrimp with 1 tablespoon of olive oil in each bowl. Season all with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Grill onions until greens are charred and bulbs are tender 4-5 minutes. Next grill haricot verts, turning occasionally, about 3 minutes until they have nice charred grill marks on each side. Next grill the shrimp until cooked through and they become opaque and shells are charred, about 3 minutes per side. Last, grill lemons until charred, 1-2 minutes on each side.
  • Arrange the green onions, haricot verts, and the shrimp on top of the paella. Drizzle with the chile-parsley oil and squeeze some of the juice from the charred lemons over the paella. Add the lemon wedges to the pan. Serve warm.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://lingeralittle.com/a-tapas-experience/