Paella

Maybe I’ll write on here a bit more… we’ll see. Here is a sort-of-recipe I put together for my Toastmasters club after a gave a speech on preparing paella. It is a fun dish that is elegant, but relatively relaxing to make when entertaining. Pictures maybe at some point.

Ingredients

The mandatory ones are stock (chicken or fish), rice (I use Arborio rice, can also use Valencia, Calasparra, or Bomba), saffron, garlic, onions, olive oil

Optional ones are: parsley, thyme, paprika, tomatoes, peppers, lemons, seafood, meat, other veggies

Directions

Braise the meat and set it aside. Use olive oil throughout, generously, as needed

Sauté the onions, garlic, etc. Add parsley and thyme

Add tomatoes and diced peppers. The mix of tomatoes, peppers, herbs is called sofrito

Add rice. Sauté it in pan until translucent

Add some broth until rice is covered

Dissolve saffron in hot water and add to broth

Bring mixture to simmer. You can stir it for the first 15 or 20 minutes.

After that, let it sit and just simmer and cook until the rice is done.

Keep adding liquid in it, but as it gets close to done you want the liquid to be absorbed

The meat goes on top, so that the serving presentation is beautiful. Add the meat at the end so it has time to get warm

At the end, turn up the heat a bit so the bottom gets crunchy and caramelized. This is called the socarret

Add some lemon, parsley, and paprika as a garnish and for color.

Serve with a light green salad, something light, good baguette bread.

Crisp white wines, even sparkling, or a Spanish red like from Rioja will all work for a wine pairing

Enjoy!