The Ultimate Paella

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Show: Tyler's UltimateEpisode: Paella

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (55)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(55)

Cook Time:
1 hr 0 min
Level:
Intermediate
Yield:
4 to 6 servings

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: 1 hr 0 min
Cook: 1 hr 0 min
Total:: 2 hr 30 min

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Ingredients

Spice Mix for chicken, recipe follows
1 (3-pound) frying chicken, cut into 10 pieces
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Spanish chorizo sausages, thickly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 Spanish onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
Bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, reserve some for garnish
1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed
4 cups short grain Spanish rice
6 cups water, warm
Generous pinch saffron threads
1 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed
1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined
2 lobster tails
1/2 cup sweet peas, frozen and thawed
Lemon wedges, for serving

Special equipment:

Large paella pan or wide shallow skillet

Directions

Rub the spice mix all over the chicken and marinate chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Heat oil in a paella pan over medium-high heat. Saute the chorizo until browned, remove and reserve. Add chicken skin-side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from pan and reserve.

In the same pan, make a sofrito by sauteing the onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes on a medium heat. Then, add tomatoes and cook until the mixture caramelizes a bit and the flavors meld. Fold in the rice and stir-fry to coat the grains. Pour in water and simmer for 10 minutes, gently moving the pan around so the rice cooks evenly and absorbs the liquid. Add chicken, chorizo, and saffron. Add the clams and shrimp, tucking them into the rice. The shrimp will take about 8 minutes to cook. Give the paella a good shake and let it simmer, without stirring, until the rice is al dente, for about 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, when the rice is filling the pan, add the lobster tails. When the paella is cooked and the rice looks fluffy and moist, turn the heat up for 40 seconds until you can smell the rice toast at the bottom, then it's perfect.

Cook's note: The ideal paella has a toasted rice bottom called socarrat.

Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with peas, parsley and lemon wedges.

Spice Mix for chicken:

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

2 teaspoons dried oregano

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the chicken; marinate for 1 hour, covered

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Comments & Reviews

recipe The Ultimate Paella
Brick Murrells Inlet, SC 02-06-2010
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Oven makes it best
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

I used king crab instead of lobster and it was wonderful. I think finishing it in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes and adding... the seafood, LARGE prawns 15 minutes before done, clams 7 before, and crab 5 minutes is best. I went ahead and sliced the crab shells with siccors before I added them. It went wonderful with homemade Italian bread and a French Pinot from Bourgogne.Read more
recipe The Ultimate Paella
Ben Charlotte, NC 01-04-2010
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Recipe is good, but misses important notes and steps.
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

If you have an electric stove there is no way you can make this in a 13 inch Paella pan unless you have some kind of unsually... large electric burner. If you have an electric stove I would suggest three different options. Using a Paella pan on a grill works very well. Start the pan on the stove and finish cooking in the oven once broth and all ingredients are added. The third option would be to make a smaller amount in a skillet or frying pan. Instead of using using water a stock of some kind should be used. The stock should also be boiling hot before added to the mixture. That is the traditional way. This step adds a lot of flavor. Sometimes I just use my Paella pan to make a highly seasoned rice from a home made stock that was saved from soup. Disclaimer - Currently I do not have a gas stove although I use to have one. At this point I am not sure how well a 13 inch paella pan would work on the average gas stove. You can buy propane paella pan burners that are made to fit various sizes of Paella pans. I have even seen 60 inch paella pans that are made to be put over a fire pit. Hope this information helps. My first attempt was done in the oven as described above. A Spanish friend suggest that as being the easiest. Turned out really well. This style of cooking really gives rice a punch of flavor. Hopefully this summer I will have a chance to cook Paella in a wood burning grill. Good luck everything!Read more
recipe The Ultimate Paella
null null, null 01-01-2010
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Never mix paprika with saffron - you will lose the saffron flavor !
Rated: 2 stars out of 5

I followed your recipi and it turned out poor/okay, rice was mushy probably because i used a pan that was too deep but here... is the more important lesson i learned: NEVER MIX SAFFRON WITH PAPRIKA - Paprika and the sausage flavors were way too powerful and the canceled out he expensive saffron i used. I thnk if i would have left out the paprika and sausage the seafood flavors would have come out more... any one else run into this ? Paella Newbie in SF ps. check out saffron.com - saffron specialist store in sf. Read more
recipe The Ultimate Paella
John Napa, CA 12-27-2009
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Seems Like Some Steps Were Omitted
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

Followed the recipe to the letter, and found the following. Saffron needs to go in earlier (shortly after stock/water is... added) to distribute the flavor throughout the rice. Chicken temp did not come up during cooking on the rice bed, so I pulled it and nuked it for 3 minutes to get to 160. This recipe needs to suggest a paella pan size (what's "large"?). My pan is 13.5", and was crowded; at least a 15" paella pan is needed. More stock/water is needed, maybe another cup or two, as if you cook the rice in liquid 10 minutes, it'll be fairly dry, and pretty toothy, needing more liquid to both cook the rice and steam/heat the meats. Need to have a suggested weight for the chorizo; my links were 6", and didn't add enough chorizo flavor. Add the chorizo at the same time as the saffron (above) to bring its flavor to the rice. This has potential, but needs work.Read more
recipe The Ultimate Paella
Maria Louisville, KY 11-19-2009
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Use the right kind or rice!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Delicious. I followed exactly the recipe. Turned out great. Very important to use short grain paella rice!
recipe The Ultimate Paella
Jane Hicksville, NY 11-07-2009
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ehhhhh...
Rated: 2 stars out of 5

I followed the recipe and my rice was extremely mushy. It took longer than it was suppose to. Also i suggest that before you... put in the seafood, to put everything in the oven for 45 mins.-1hr at 350 degrees. The rice will be perfectly crispy and in the last 10 mins. put in the seafood. Read more