Basic Paella Ingredients

Start you Paella by chopping a red bell pepper, onion and garlic. For the tomatoes you can use also canned tomatoes, the peas in the picture peas are frozen

Start your Paella by frying the chicken breast cut into cubes in a pan. Ideally this would be a paella pan, but a wok will do it likewise. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Meanwhile, start chopping the onion into tiny cubes, the bell pepper into medium sized cubes or stripes as well as the garlic.

Fry the chicken cubes, let them rest, go on with the seafood.

As soon as the chicken cubes are somewhat done, set them aside and start frying the seafood. Add salt and pepper to taste. A pinch of parika powder can’t harm, but will add additional flavor. In the pictures we used pangsasius fillets, octopus and fresh calamari cut into rings. Let them get golden and set aside to chill.

Prepare the calamari rings, fish and squid in your paella pan or wok. Use a wooden spatula.

Now you can start by putting the vegetables into the pan, add the tomatoes, stir.

Add the onion, bell pepper to your paella.

As soon as the onion will turn transparent you can add the meat, seafood and frozen mussels.

Combine the prepared ingredients for your Paella.

You can add now also the peas, and about 5-6 cups of hot water. Add 1-2 chicken stock cubes for better flavor and the rice

The basic Paella - meat, seafood, vegetables. Add the mussels now.

Now its time to add the mussels to your paella, put some extra garlic if you like.

The paella is now ready to recive its characteristic yellow color by adding the saffron. Any kind of saffron will do it, but we especially can recommend the Paellero packages if available.

Spanish safron - any kind of safron will do it, but Paellero is a great choice.

Stir well until about half of the water is absorbed/evaporated. You should now cease to further stir, in order to let the paella develop its traditional crust as the bottom of the pan.

The saffron gives the typical color to the Paella.

Now, add the Paella rice to your mixture and let it absorb the water. Chicken stock will give additional and essential flavor to your composition.

As soon as the majority of water is either absorbed or evaporated, you can garnish the paella with fresh shrimp.

Shrimp scampi or prawn, especially the jumbo variations or if available spiny lobsters will make a perfect topping for your paella.

In order to make sure that the prawn will be well done from both sides cover the pan.

Place the fresh shrimp on top of the half baked Paella

Meanwhile, cop the parsley and add it after some 3 minutes.

Now the time has come to chop the fresh parsley.

Garnish your Paella with your fresh parsley after turning the shrimp, they should be half pink now.

Let the paella cook for another 3-5 minutes. Voila, you are done. Admire your Paella

Voila, the Paella is as traditional as ready to be served. Enjoy.

Paella Cooking Tips

Before you now insult us, for selling you this mix as authentic Paella recipe, let us be clear on some basics, which directly translate into further cooking instructions:

While we used chicken meat in our example, you can still have an “authentic” paella recipe using rabbit or duck, top it with snails and beans instead of peas. the rabbit/snail/bean variation would have to classified as Valencian Paella, where this very dish has actually its origins. Thus, a prurist would say, that this, and only this is a really traditional Paella. May it be.

A typical tourist from Spain, which is most likely to visit the sea side, will insist that the seafood Paella is the true one. The seafood Paella uses mussels instead of snails and usually skips the meat in favor of various seafoods such as squid, cuttlefish, cod, salmon, lobster, shrimp and even crayfish. Pangasius would not be quite an option, but we think, despite being a fresh water fish, it has not only a competitive price, but also a firm and delicious meat which makes it a perfect fit.

The 3rd type is the mixed Paella or sometimes also called “International Paella” and will not add only all of the ingredients mentioned above, but also sausages, such as Chorizo. After all, Paella cooking is like a living religion: ever changing, ever local, ever tasty. Cook. Enjoy. Share.

Ingredients:

1 onion
½ lbs of chorizo
½ lbs of chicken breast
½ lbs of shrimp, peeled
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 ½ cup of rice (preboiled)
3 cups of water
1-2 tablespoons of saffron
½ lbs of peas
1 tablespoon of oil

Directions

Let the shrimp boil for 10 minutes. Cut the onion into small pieces. Cut the chorizo into thin slices, likewise, cut the peppers and the chicken into cubes. Fry the chorizo without adding oil, leave it for 1 minute at high heat, now add the onion, chicken and the pepper and let them roast for about 5 minutes. Only in the case the Chorizo does not give enough fat to the pan add some oil.

Now, add the rice, saffron and stir it very well. Give the water to the pan and cover it with a lid. Turn the heat low and cook it for 10 minutes. Add the peas and the shrimp. Wait for another 10 minutes until the rice is done.

Tips

Yyou can also use calamari or oysters. Serve it with a dry white wine.

Spanish Saffron treads: a basic Paella ingredient.

Two of the main ingredients for Paella are rice and saffron. Although saffron is one of the most expensive spices, the saffron gives not only color, but also flavor to paella. This Paella saffron recipe is for 8 persons and will not use only seafood, but also other traditional ingredients like chicken (you could use also duck) and rabbit meat.

Ingredients:

3 cups of rice
1 lbs of fresh shrimp
1 lbs calamari or squid, cut into rings
1 lbs white mussels (called also Almejas)
1 can of tuna fish
1 lbs black mussels (called also Mejillones)
8 small lobsters or crayfish
2 lbs of chicken meat
1 red bell pepper
2 lbs of rabbit meat
2 tablespoons of tomatoes paste
2 tablespoons of saffron
1 small can of green olives
Salt to taste
1 cup of olive oil

Directions

Give the oil in the paella pan at high heat. Add the chicken and rabbit meat and fry them until they are nearly done. Sprinkle some salt and let them fry until they turn golden. Add the calamari and pepper and then the tomato paste. Let them roast very well. Now let’s add the shrimp, white mussels and the black ones. Add water, counting each glass (for each glass of rice two and a half glasses of water). When it starts boiling add the olives, tuna and the saffron. Let them cook for 10-15 minutes and if there’s the case sprinkle some more salt.

Add the rice and let it cook at low heat for 20 minutes. With 5 minutes before you turn the heat off; add the crayfish.

Tips

Serve it with a glass of dry red Spanish wine.

As you know the paella it is prepared in a special pan (Paella actually means pan), not high and not so depth. You should not cook Paella in something else in order to obtain the best results. If you do not have such a pan, you might use a Wok. This recipe uses also rabbit meat.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of olive oil
½ chicken, cut into 6 pieces
½ rabbit cut into pieces
10 garlic cloves
1 tomato cut into pieces
1 tin of lima beans (if you don’t find it in the supermarket you can use white bean)
½ pack of frozen green bean
½ pack of dark bean
Salt
1 tablespoon of paprika
Saffron
Dry savory
Dry rosemary
4 cups of white rice

Directions

Give the oil into the paella pan and warm it. Add the chicken, the rabbit and the garlic. Fry them until they become darker, but fry them using a lid. Move the meat on the sides of the pan and add the tomatoes, lima beans and green bean. Spice with paprika and stir well.

Now fill the pan with water counting the water cups in order to know how much rice you have to add. Put the half the number of cups with rice, (for example if you poured 2 cups of water, add only one cup of rice). Let it boil for around one hour in order to obtain a yummy sauce. After that, add the saffron, the savory and the rosemary.

Cover the paella pan and let it boil until the liquid was absorbed.

Tips

Serve it warm. If you don’t like rabbit meat you can replace it with chicken.

Mussel Paella

Ingredients:

12 big mussels (opened)
1 cup of dry white wine
1 little red onion cut into pieces
3 tbs of olive oil
1 chicken breast, cut into pieces
½ lbs of marinated shrimp or lobster claws
¼ lbs squid or cuttlefish rings (octopus might do it as well)
¼ lbs of white fish, without bones cut into pieces (Basa fish might fit perfectly!)
½ onion cut into pieces (this is an extra onion)
4 pieces of garlic, minced
1 small red pepper cut into pieces
1 peeled tomato, cut
¼ lbs of peas
Sweet paprika
1 ½ cups of rice, long grain
¼ teaspoon of saffron
1 ½ liters of chicken soup
2 tablespoons of minced parsley

Directions

Warm the wine with the onion at low heat, add the mussels, cover the pan with a lid and now let it boil for 5 minutes. After 3 minutes you can start to take off from the pan the mussels that are very well opened and let them cool off. If after 5 minutes there are still unopened mussels – don’t use them anymore. As for the wine, keep it because we will use it a little bit later.

Heat half of the oil quantity and roast the chicken. After 5 minute take off the chicken, set it aside and give the fish, the squid and the shrimp in the pan for another 2 minutes. When they are ready set them aside. Add the rest of the oil and roast the extra onion and the pepper for 3-5 minutes. Add the tomato, the peas and the spices. When they are done pour the wine and add the rice.

Meanwhile melt the saffron into the soup and pour it over the rice. Let it come over, lower the heat and let it boil without stirring. Over the rice, give the chicken, the fish, the squid and the shrimp. Let them cook for other 10 minutes. Stir the meat under the rice, using a wooden spatula.

Tips

Serve it in bowls with the mussels over and sprinkle it with parsley.

Ingredients:

1 cup of rice
1 cup of Mexican rice mix (you can find those frozen in the supermarket)
1 red onion
1 carrot
1 lbs of mixed seafood
1 can of mushrooms
Salt, pepper, oregano and curry

Directions

Fry the onion and the carrot in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. After that, add the mushrooms and the Mexican mix. Leave everything to parch and then add the rice. Stir for 1-2 minutes; now add 2 cups of water. Add the seafood and let it cook until the rice is almost done. Turn the heat off, cover the pan with a towel and let it like that for another 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Tips

You can serve it with a rose wine, dry. Serve it while it is warm.

Ingredients:

2 cups of long grain rice
1 ¼ to 1 ½ liters of vegetables soup
2 red onions
3 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of sweet paprika
1 tablespoon of saffron
Parsley
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
Different vegetables, according to taste, availability and season (peppers, peas, bean, mushrooms)

Directions

Bring the vegetables soup to a boil and when is about to go over add the saffron. Keep it hot. Cut the garlic and onion into small pieces and fry them in olive oil until they turn light golden-brown. Add the paprika and after a short while add the rice. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Now pour the soup over the rice and let it cook at low heat. Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, cut the vegetables into small pieces and boil them. When they are ready, add them in the pan where the rice is almost done and stir. In about 25 minutes you will have your Vegetarian paella ready.

Tips

If you are not vegetarian, you can use this recipe as a quick basic recipe for your own Paella creations. I once added even some grilled Salmon and it was simply delicious!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 bacon slices
1 big onion cut into small pieces
4 pieces of garlic cut into pieces
1 green pepper cut into fine pieces
2 cups of long grain rice
Oregano and coriander
2 pt of chicken soup (about 1 liter)
4 can tomatoes cut into pieces
1 tablespoon of saffron
1 lbs shrimp
1 lbs of cuttlefish or squid
2 lbs oysters or mussels
1 cup of white dry wine
1 cup of frozen peas
Salt, pepper
If you like you can add also green beans

Directions

In a Paella pan, warm up the oil at medium to high heat. Add the bacon and fry it until it becomes crunchy, for about 2 minutes. After that, take it out of the pan. Reduce the heat to medium, roast the onion until it gets soft and golden (not brown). Add the garlic and the green pepper and stir it for another 2-3 minutes. Add the rice, coriander and oregano. Stir it for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile warm the soup and pour it over the rice. Add the tomatoes and saffron. Stir it very well and cover it, but keep it on low heat, until the liquid is completely absorbed (for about 15 to 25 minutes). Stir from time to time. If it seems to dry too much/fast add some additional water.

Prepare the seafood: Peel off the shrimp, cut the squid in small rings and wash the oysters. Put the wine on the heat, add the oysters, cover them and keep them there for 5 minutes until they open. Throw away those that didn’t open (it’s a sign that they are bad and you can seriously get ill from them). Take them off, drain them, but keep the oysters soup.

Mix the rice, seafood and the peas with the wine where the oysters were boiled. Keep them on heat for 5 minutes.

Tips

If you prefer, you can add chorizo also to the recipe. Just add it, when the seafood should hae been added.

Ingredients:

1 ¼ lbs chicken meat
2 cups rice, long grain
2 big tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
2 red peppers cut into small pieces
½ lbs of green beans
1 tbs of saffron
1 tbs paprika
1 ½ l of chicken soup
2 tbs of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a Paella pan, heat the oil and add the peppers. When they become soft take them off and put them on a paper towel which will absorb the oil. Parch the chicken in the same oil where you fried the pepper. When the chicken is well done on both sides, add the paprika and stir quickly. After that take them on the sides of the pan so that in the middle of it you can put the tomatoes (blended before in a blender), garlic and green peas. Let it cook for 5 minutes.

Add ½ liters of the soup, saffron, salt and pepper and boil it at medium heat until the meat and peas are done. Taste the peas and try the chicken with the fork. It took me about 25 minutes (with a chicken bought from the supermarket). Pour the rice into the Paella pan and then the rest of the soup. With a spatula arrange the rice all over the pan so it can reach the pan’s entire surface in equal quantities. Shake the pan a little bit in order to arrange better.

Add some salt and pepper because starting with this moment you are not allowed to stir the pan again. Leave the paella at medium to high heat for about 5 minutes and then change to medium-low heat. Let it on heat until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice grains nicely separate.

When you will see it a little bit dry on the surface and you are sure that the liquid was absorbed, set it high heat for a maximum of 2 minutes until you smell rice the rice starting to burn. This way we will form a crunchy crust on the bottom. You will obtain what the Spanish call “socarrat”, which is considered to be delicate.

Turn the heat off.

Tips

Put some rosemary on the pan’s sides and cover the pan for 10 minutes. Put the pan on the table so each one will serve it. Of course, don’t forget to serve it with a white, dry wine.

Ingredients:

1 lbs of fresh shrimp, peeled
2 cups of fish soup (without the fish) or if you don’t have use 2 cups of water with dry vegetables spices
¾ cup of dry white wine
½ tbs of saffron
2 tsp of olive oil
1/3 cup of onion cut into small fine pieces
2 garlic cloves cut into slices
½ red bell pepper cut into pieces
1 small cup of Spanish rice, not boiled and not wet
2 peeled tomatoes cut into pieces
2 teaspoons of paprika (Spanish one if you can find)
2 teaspoons of salt
1 cup of frozen peas
2 teaspoons of fresh parsley fine cut
Lemon slices

Directions

In a pot, warm the water, wine and saffron at medium heat. Lower heat and keep the liquid hot, but not boiling (let’s call this mix 1).

In a paella pan heat the oil and add the onion and pepper. Keep stirring until the onion starts to turn light golden – brown and the pepper becomes soft. Remove the pan from the heat, add the garlic and rice; stir well (until the rice is covered with oil all over – that should take you about one minute). Add the tomatoes, paprika and the salt. Now; add mix 1 with the saffron. Put the pan back on the heat and stir it occasionally for 10-15 minutes. Then, add the shrimps and the peas.

Now you can put the paella into the oven at medium heat and cook it for 15-20 minutes until the rice is almost done and the liquid is almost absorbed. Be careful! Don’t cook the paella until the rice is perfectly done and the liquid is totally absorbed, because after you get it out from the oven, the rice is still baking. Take it out of the oven and cover it with an aluminum foil, for 5-10 minutes.

Serve it with lemon and parsley.

Tips

There is a Spanish tradition in which you set the Paella in the center of the table. In the past, all the family was eating directly from the pan.
If there is a lot of liquid in the pan, put the paella on the high heat, uncovered and keep it until the liquid is absorbed. If it seems that there isn’t enough liquid and the rice seems undone, put some additional tablespoons of water. The recipe works also with lobster tails or shrimp scampi.