1 kg rice (for paella, it’s best to use “Bomba” short-grain rice—it has the best flavor and the grains hold up better when cooked)
2 liters of rich broth made from poultry, pork, beef, fish, or shrimp shells, root vegetables, tomatoes (frito), leeks, and bay leaves. You can also buy it ready-made if preparing it from scratch is too much work.
1.5 kg meat (cut into very small pieces)—chicken, rabbit, beef, and pork
20 large shrimp with heads and shells
approx. 600 g octopus, diced
approx. 600 g small squid (chipirones)
1 kg of clams (fresh or frozen Venus clams or mussels)
Onions, coarsely diced
Garlic, finely chopped
Chili and celery, diced
Fresh green broad beans, cut into pieces
3–4 fresh tomatoes, halved and grated on a coarse grater
approx. 300 g peas (frozen)
If available, fresh artichokes, trimmed and quartered
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
2 tsp Mallorca Food Club “Paella” spice blend
Preparation
Pour at least 1 cm of olive oil into the center of a sufficiently large, hot paella pan.
Now sauté all the ingredients one after another, removing them from the pan each time so that the olive oil gradually absorbs their flavors.
The following order is very important for building up the flavors:
Strips of bell pepper, shrimp, meat, artichokes—let each one brown slightly before removing it from the pan.
Each ingredient should release the roasted flavors from the bottom of the pan left by the previous ingredient.
Then sauté the onions until translucent, add the beans, mussels, octopus, and squid—stir-fry and let the liquid evaporate.
Next, sauté the rice along with the other ingredients—it’s very important to brown the rice well so that it develops flavor and the outer starch of the rice grains is sealed. This keeps the rice “al dente.”
Next, add all the previously sautéed ingredients (except the shrimp and bell pepper) and deglaze with the grated tomatoes—reduce the tomatoes, stirring constantly—and season with salt, pepper, and all the other spices.
Now add the hot broth and stir all the ingredients until evenly distributed. The level of the ingredients in the pan must be even.
Do not stir anymore, otherwise too much starch will be released from the rice and the paella will become mushy (like an Italian risotto!).
Let it simmer gently and steadily for 15 minutes. The rice should caramelize and brown on the bottom of the pan—that’s the perfect result! After 12 minutes, check the rice for doneness (it should still have a bit of bite), arrange the bell peppers and shrimp decoratively, and let it rest, covered and off the heat, for 10 minutes.
Serve with strips of pointed bell peppers, lemon wedges, and aioli.
