Seafood Paella

Paella is a wonderful Spanish dish. My version has chicken, pork and seafood and is cooked on the grill.

Ingredients

For the Paella

• 2 lb / 1 kg meat (chicken and pork, see Notes), cut into 1¼ in / 3 cm pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• ½ small onion, finely chopped
• 1 red and 1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
• 7 oz / 200 g tomatoes, finely chopped
• 7 oz / 200 g green beans (I usually use frozen)
• 12 large shrimp, tail-on, de-veined
• 6 large scallops
• 6 baby octopuses, cleaned
• 12 live clams or mussels, scrubbed
• 1 lb / 450 g Arborio rice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ tsp saffron
• salt and pepper (to taste)

For the stock

• 2 lb / 1 kg fish (see Notes)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• chicken bones, if available from the main recipe
• 1 cup / 250 ml dry white wine
• 2 quarts / 2 l water (or chicken stock, if available)
• 2 tsp salt (or to taste, adjust if you use chicken stock and it is salty)

Preparation

Stock

1. Set a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil and onion and cook until very lightly browned.
2. Add garlic, carrot, celery and salt. Cook for another minute. Add fish (and optionally the chicken bones). Cook for a few more minutes.
3. Add water (and/or stock) and dry white wine. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for at least 45 min, better 60-90 min.
4. Strain, keep the stock and discard the solids. Keep the stock hot.

Paella

1. Rub meats with freshly ground pepper (to taste).
2. Heat a 14 in / 36 cm paella pan on the grill.
3. Add the olive oil, then brown the meat on all sides. Remove meat from the pan and set aside.
4. Cook octopuses for about 30 seconds. Remove and set aside.
5. Cook the onion until translucent, then add garlic, green beans and bell peppers. Cook for a few more minutes.
6. Return the meat, add the rice and cook until the rice starts to become translucent.
7. Add tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes.
8. Add saffron to the hot stock, stir. Add the stock to the paella pan.
9. Throw a few wood chips on the grill, set the grill to low heat (put on lid if possible) and simmer until the liquid has been almost absorbed (depending on the heat, about 25 min).
10. Stick the mussels into the rice, cook for about 3 minutes. Put scallops and shrimp on top. Cook until almost done (2-4 minutes). Add octopuses, cook for another minute or two so that they can heat up. Serve.

Notes

• Flavorful fish is better for the stock. Fish heads work well. You can also add shrimp heads. Cheap fillets (e.g. tilapia) work too, but not as well (a little trick to intensify the flavor is to add 1 anchovy to the fish).
• For the meats I use equal parts of chicken thighs and not too lean pork (lean pork can get really dry and tough). I usually get bone-in chicken thighs, remove the bones and cook them with the stock.
• I cook the paella on my Weber charcoal grill. The lid and the adjustable air inlet allow very good temperature control and very effective adding of wood chips for smoky flavors.

Yields about 6 servings

Preparation time about 2 - 2½ hours