Create Seafood Paella At Home: Secrets Of The Most Tasty Dish

Whenever I dine at a Spanish restaurant, seafood paella is a dish I seldom pass up. It never fails to deliver a delightful explosion of flavors, with beautifully arranged seafood adorning the top. Imagine my excitement when I discovered how remarkably simple it is to prepare paella at home. This dish is not daunting at all, and it’s an impressive option to serve when you have guests. The secret to a fantastic paella lies in the marca paste, as it holds the essence of all the flavors in the dish.

Marca paste

• 20g olive oil
• 25g tomatoes (small dice)
• 50g white onion (fine brunoise)
• 10g garlic (fine brunoise)
• 25g leek (fine brunoise)
• 25g carrot (fine brunoise)
• 100g red bell pepper (fine brunoise)
• 25g white wine
• 25g sweet paprika
• 0.5g saffron
• white chicken stock (as necessary)

Paella

• 15g olive oil
• 100g seafood mix
• 2g english parsley
• 75g blue mussel
• 300ml white chicken stock
• 100g marca paste
• 100g arborio rice

Marca Paste

1. Sweat the white onion, leeks and garlic on low heat until soft.
2. Add in the carrot and cook for around 10 minutes.
3. Soak the saffron in white wine and use it to deglaze the pan. Cook out the wine.
4. Add in the red bell pepper, tomatoes and paprika and cook for 20 minutes until a soft paste is formed. If necessary, add in a few drops of white chicken stock so that the paste does not stick to the pan.
5. Season the paste with salt.

Paella

1. If you use frozen seafood mix, gently sauté the seafood to remove the moisture from the ice and set aside for use after (If you use fresh seafood, there’s no need to sauté the seafood).
2. Using the paella pan on the stove top, cook out the marca paste and add in the arborio rice. Cook out the rice on low heat until the rice starts to puff up
3. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a gentle boil. Turn off the heat.
4. Season the paella with salt and pepper. Tip: over season the paella slightly as the rice will absorb the liquid.
5. Decorate with the seafood.
6. Bake the paella in the oven for 20 minutes at 200°C.
7. Garnish with english parsley.

Notes:

• Traditionally, seafood paella calls for bomba rice, but if you’re unable to find it, arborio rice can serve as a suitable alternative.
• When preparing the marca paste, it is crucial to finely brunoise the vegetables. This ensures that they dissolve as they cook, eventually forming a smooth paste. If the vegetables are chopped into large chunks, you may end up with noticeable pieces of vegetables in the final dish, resulting in a less enjoyable texture.

Hope you will also give this recipe a try. For more recipes, please visit my food & recipe page here.