Paella

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 35 to 40 minutes

For 6 to 8 people

Ingredients:

• 800g of long or round rice
• 1 pinch of saffron pistils:
• 6 chicken legs divided into two parts. 1piece of chorizo. 16 shrimps. 1kg of Bouchot mussels (rope-grown blue mussels)
• 1 onion. 1 shallot
• 25 cl of white wine. ½ liter of chicken stock 
• 500g of squid or calamari, in strips
• 200g.of frozen peas. 6 artichoke heads. 1 lemon. 1 bunch of green asparagus.
• Olive oil to taste

Preparation:

• Cut the chicken thighs into two pieces.
• Peel and finely chop the shallot and onion. Wash all of the vegetables. Afterwards, dice the peppers. Turn the artichokes, cut them in half and add the lemon juice; peel the asparagus and cut it into wedges.
• Stir the chicken broth together with the saffron in 1 liter of warm water.
• Cut the chorizo into slices.
• Fry the chorizo on both sides without adding any oil or other fat. Discard the fat that came out of them. Salt and pour a little olive oil over the chicken. Fry it in the paella pan on medium heat for 10 minutes. 
• When it has turned brown, add the diced peppers, onion, shallots and artichokes; sweat everything for 5 minutes (sweating is a cooking technique that involves cooking food over low heat to make it release moisture). 
• Add the rice and sweat for another 3 minutes; deglaze it (dissolve the browned food residue) with the white wine and moisten it with the broth. 
• Add the strips of squid; put the lid on and cook on low heat (at a temperature of 160°C) for around 10 minutes.
• Add the mussels, peas and asparagus wedges, and then finish cooking for 10 minutes.
• Cook the shrimps a la plancha (grill them on the griddle) and place them on the paella.
• Let stand for about 5 minutes.
• Check the cooking of the chicken. Decorate the paella on each plate with a lemon wedge.

Chef’s Tip 

Use one phalange of the index finger as a measuring unit between the level of the rice and that of the broth to achieve well cooked and smooth rice.