Paëlla from David Kinch
The truth is, this recipe isn’t a result of working in Spain, or any romantic story from my past. I just really, really like rice and shellfish, so I’ve made a lot of paella. The base for this recipe is the same as the sauce for the Spaghetti “Soffritto” (this page), so consider doubling it and having extra pasta sauce to last you throughout the week.
Equipment
- paella pan 12-inch or larger
Ingrediënten
Serves 6 to 8
SOFRITO
- 4 pounds tomatoes Early Girl or Roma preferred
- 2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 medium white onions finely diced
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
RICE AND SHRIMP
- 1 pound extra jumbo 16/20 shrimp in shells, rinsed well with cold water
- Salt
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 4 cups fish stock Chicken Stock (this page), or Chickpea Stock (this page)
- 1 teaspoon saffron threads lightly toasted and crushed
- 2 cups Bomba rice
Instructies
- To make the sofrito, cut the tomatoes in half horizontally.
- Using the large side of a box grater, grate the cut side of each tomato into a large bowl, discarding the skins.
- In a large pot on low heat, stir together the olive oil, sugar, salt, bay leaf, and onions and sauté until the onions start to lightly brown, about 40 minutes.
- Add the smoked paprika and garlic and stir to combine.
- Stir in the tomatoes and simmer until the sauce reduces and the oil separates, about 25 minutes.
- Set aside.
- To make the rice and shrimp, in a medium bowl, toss the shrimp with a pinch of salt.
- Heat the olive oil in your paella pan on medium heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the shrimp in one layer.
- Let them sit for 1 minute to give them a little color, then use tongs to flip and cook for 1 minute more.
- Be careful not to overcook the shrimp here—you’ll need them to remain raw so their juices later season the rice.
- Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside.
- Pour the sofrito into the paella pan with the heat still on medium.
- Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until it softens but doesn’t take on any color, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the fish stock, 1 tablespoon salt, and the saffron and bring to a simmer.
- Once simmering, add the rice and stir to combine.
- Pour in any juices that formed at the bottom of the bowl of shrimp and stir to combine.
- Add the shrimp in one single layer.
- Let everything sit without stirring until a crust forms on the bottom and the rice cooks through, 14 to 16 minutes.
- To serve, scoop the top layer of rice and shrimp into bowls, leaving the blackened crust in the pan.
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