Paella recipes from Sarah Jay

• Paella with chicken, artichoke, and red peppers
• Paella with shrimp, scallops, and clams

The recipes may look long, but that's only because they are so detailed, not because they are difficult or time-consuming. On average, the chicken paella takes about 1 1/4 hours to prepare and 20 minutes to cook. The seafood paella goes much faster; figure on about 30 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. If you enjoy these recipes, you might also appreciate recipes from Fine Cooking magazine.

The following paella recipes are for a 13- or 14-inch paella pan. To modify the recipes for larger pans, do the following:

• For a 16-inch pan, multiply the recipe amounts by 1 1/4
• For a 18-inch pan, multiply the recipe amounts by 1 1/2
• For a 22-inch pan, multiply the recipe amounts by 2
• For a 26-inch pan, multiply the recipe amounts by 3
• For a 31-inch pan, multiply the recipe amounts by 5

Back to Main Recipes page

Paella with Chicken, Artichoke, and Red Peppers

Serves four (ideal for a 13- or 14-inch paella pan).

• 3 cups chicken stock; more if necessary
• Pinch of saffron threads, toasted and steeped in 1/2 cup hot stock
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 skinless chicken thighs, chopped in halves and seasoned with salt and pepper
• 1 red pepper, cored, seeded, and cut in 1-inch wide strips
• 1 small whole head garlic; plus 6 medium garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 artichokes
• 3 oz. green beans, trimmed
• 1/2 medium onion, grated on the largest holes of a box grater
• 1 ripe tomato, halved horizontally and grated on the largest holes of a box grater (discard the skin)
• 1 1/2 cups medium grain rice
• 1/4 cup cooked (or canned) garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
• 1 lemon, cut in wedges for garnish

In a saucepan, bring the stock to a boil; lower to a simmer. Add the saffron-infused liquid. Taste; the stock should be well-seasoned, so add salt if necessary. Remove from heat until ready to add to the rice.

Set a paella pan (14-inch diameter) over medium high heat with the olive oil, noticing if the pan sits level. If not, choose another burner or try to create a level surface. When the oil is hot, sauté the chicken pieces until golden and cooked through, 10 to 15 min. Transfer the chicken to a platter and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium low. In the paella pan, sauté the red pepper, head of garlic, and garlic cloves until the peppers are quite soft but not brown, 15 to 20 min. Meanwhile, prepare the artichokes. Slice off the upper two-thirds of the leaves and trim the stem. Pare away the tough outer leaves, scrape out the choke fibers and quarter the hearts.

Transfer the peppers and garlic cloves to a plate (the intact head always stays in the pan), cover with aluminum foil, and set aside to cool. Sauté the artichokes in the paella pan until they're tender, about 15 min. Transfer to a plate. Sauté the green beans in the pan until they're soft and wrinkly, 5 to 10 min. Meanwhile, finish preparing the red peppers. Peel them (discarding the skin), and set the garlic cloves apart from the peeled peppers. When the green beans are done, remove the pan from the heat and transfer green beans to a plate.

If there is more than 1 Tbs. of olive oil in the pan, pour out the excess. Increase the heat to medium and sauté the onion until soft, about 5 min. Add the tomato and the reserved garlic to the pan. Season well with salt, and sauté until the water from the tomato has cooked out and the mixture has darkened to a burgundy color and is a very thick purée, 10 to 15 min. If not cooking the rice immediately, remove the paella pan from the heat. (This tomato-onion-garlic mixture, called the sofrito, is the flavor base for the paella.) You may make the paella several hours ahead up to this point.

About a half hour before you're ready to eat, bring the stock back to a simmer and set the pan with the sofrito over your largest burner (or over two burners) on medium high heat. When the sofrito is hot, add the rice, stirring until it's translucent, 1 to 2 min.

Stir or shake the pan to evenly distribute the rice, push the head of garlic to the center, and pour in the simmering stock. As the stock comes to a boil, lay the peppers and green beans in the pan, star-fashion. Add the artichokes and chicken pieces, and distribute the garbanzo beans, if using, on top. Do not stir the rice once the water is boiling. Cook on medium high, rotating and moving the pan over one and two burners to distribute the heat and cook the rice as evenly as possible. When the rice begins to appear above the liquid, after 8 to 10 min., reduce the heat to medium low.

Continue to simmer, rotating the pan as necessary, until the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 min. more. Taste a grain just below the top layer of rice; it should be al dente, with a tiny white dot in the center. (If the rice is not done but all the liquid has been absorbed, add a bit more hot stock or water to the pan and cook a few minutes more.)

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and cook gently for another 2 min. to help ensure that the top layer of rice is evenly cooked. With the foil still in place, increase the heat to medium-high and, rotating the pan, cook for about 2 min., until the bottom layer of rice starts to caramelize, creating the socarrat. The rice may crackle somewhat, but if it starts burning, remove the pan from the heat immediately.

Let the paella rest off the heat, still covered, for 5 min. Sit everyone down at a round or square table. Remove the foil and invite people to eat directly from the pan, starting at the perimeter, working toward the center, and squeezing lemon over their section, if they want.

Back to Recipes page

Seafood Paella

Serves four (ideal for a 13- or 14-inch paella pan).

This paella is good when served with lemon wedges, but it's even better when spread with a bit of alioli, a garlic mayonnaise that is the Spanish version of the French aioli. To make alioli, add a few cloves of chopped garlic and a large pinch of salt to a mini-food processor (or a mortar), process (or pound with a pestle) until very fine, and then slowly drizzle in olive oil to make a thick, mayonnaise-like consistency. Add lemon juice to taste, and process again.

• 1/3 lb. shrimp, peeled (reserve the shells for broth)
• Pinch of saffron threads
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 lb. scallops (or calamari, cut in rings)
• 1/2 onion, grated on the largest holes of a box grater
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 ripe tomato, halved and grated on the largest holes of a box grater (discard the skin)
• 1 1/2 cups medium grain rice
• 8 small mussels or clams (1/2 lb.), scrubbed
• 1 lemon, cut in wedges for garnish

In a medium saucepan, boil 3 1/2 cups of salted water. Add the shrimp shells and simmer, covered, for about 10 min. Strain the broth, and return it to the saucepan. Toast the saffron gently (in a dry skillet or toaster oven), crush the threads with the back of a spoon, and add to the shrimp shell broth. Taste for salt; the broth should be well-seasoned.

In a 14-inch paella pan, heat the oil on high. Meanwhile, pat dry the shrimp and scallops (or calamari). When the oil is hot, sauté the shrimp and scallops until almost cooked through, about 2 min. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Pour out all but 1 Tbs. of oil from the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and sauté the onion and garlic until the onion softens, about 5 min. Add the tomato, season with salt, and sauté until the mixture, called the sofrito, has darkened and is a thick purée, 10 to 15 min.

Meanwhile, bring the shrimp shell broth back to a simmer. When the tomato-onion sofrito is ready, add the rice to the pan. Sauté until the rice loses its opaqueness, about 1 min. Increase the heat to medium-high. Pour in 3 cups of the simmering broth (reserving the remaining 1/2 cup) and stir or shake the pan to evenly distribute the rice in the pan. As the liquid comes to a boil, arrange the mussels or clams in the pan, submerging them as much as possible below the level of the liquid. From this point on, do not stir the rice.

Cook the paella on medium-high, rotating and moving the pan over one or two burners to distribute the heat. When the rice begins to appear above the liquid, after 8 to 10 min., reduce the heat to medium low. Continue to simmer, rotating the pan as necessary, until the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 min. more. Taste a grain of rice just below the top layer; it should be al dente. (If the rice is not done but all the liquid has been absorbed, sprinkle a bit of hot broth to the pan and cook a few minutes more.) Arrange the shrimp and scallops (or calamari) in the pan.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and cook gently for another 2 min. to help ensure that the top layer of rice is evenly cooked. With the foil still in place, increase the heat to medium-high and, rotating the pan, cook for about 2 min., until the bottom layer of rice starts to caramelize, creating the socarrat. The rice may crackle somewhat, but if it starts burning, remove the pan from the heat immediately.

Let the paella rest off the heat, still covered, for 5 min. Sit everyone down at a round or square table. Remove the foil and invite people to eat directly from the pan, starting at the perimeter, working toward the center, and squeezing lemon over their section, if they want.

Back to Recipes page