Star Dishes I: Seafood Paella

Hi all again, this time I bring a new article that this blog begins with a series dedicated to them I consider star dishes on Mediterranean cuisine. The difficulty of these usually varies between medium and high, but any effort on our part will always rewarded with incredible enjoyment that will give us the surprise our friends and loved ones with excellent quality dishes. 

After much thought about that dish choose to begin this journey, I chose what I consider the best known internationally among the many that make up the incredible variety that offer Spanish cuisine. 

That is none other one than ... Paella.



In Spain they prepare great variety of paellas, all with specific ingredients, all of them are characterized by an essential ingredient ... rice. The trick is to select a good paella rice to cook good, but in this case I have decided to offer the recipe for Seafood Paella.


Undoubtedly the most popular variant of the traditional paella is the seafood paella, which dispenses mostly vegetables and meat substitutes, and various shellfish, molluscs and fish in addition to replacing the water by fish stock, also known as "Fumet". Such substitution gives an extra paella sea flavor that combines well with a well-selected seafood.

Ingredients to prepare Fumet:

1. 1 kg of fish bones, preferably rock fish (cod, turbot, sole, etc ...).
2. 1 large carrot.
3. 1/2 red or green pepper.
4. 1 leek (white part).
5. Salt.

Ingredients for the Seafood Paella:

1. 1 dozen mussels.
2. 400 gr. rice type "Bomba".
3. 1 L. of Fumet we will have prepared in advance.
5. 8 crayfish.
6. 8 shrimp or prawns.
7. 1 tube of squid.
8. 1 large ripe tomato.
9. 1 onion.
10. 1 clove of garlic.
11. 10 strands of saffron.
12. Green beans, white and jug (there precongeladas bags and prepared with the ideal proportions). The  "Jug beans" is a variety grown in eastern Spain.
13. Olive oil.
14. Salt.

The Fumet

It is extremely simple. Boil the fish, with the white part of the leek, a carrot, peeled and pepper for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand.

We begin with the Paella

Fry in a skillet or paella pan with three tablespoons of olive oil, finely chopped onion and red pepper. When poached, add the grated tomato without skin.

Now when we mix, add the vegetables to the pan (without thawing), stir and add the shredded squid. At this point we proceed to season to taste and stir.

Add the rice and saffron. Fry a couple of minutes and add a liter of fish stock that we prepared earlier.

Cook for 5 minutes over high heat. Add the seafood and return to let cook over medium heat another 13 minutes.

If you find you have much broth, raise the heat to high and cook over high heat for a couple of minutes to evaporate a little broth.

Remove from heat, let stand a few minutes covering the pan or large skillet we have used, with aluminum foil.

Enjoy it ...

You see the preparation of this dish of Spanish cuisine has no special difficulty in its preparation. The truth is that the real demon that we face in preparing a good paella will always identify when rice it is ready. Quite a few chefs currently debating on which is the correct point in which the rice is ready to offer the best of their textures, but to date no consensus has been reached. In Spain when the rice grains are glued together and the texture of them is little consistency we say that rice "has come".

About that we can only be free of unfounded fears and try and try until you get the Paella to our taste and of course ... that of our guests.

About the wine to accompany a good seafood paella, I advise a white wine from the Cellar Felix Lorenzo Cachazo named "Carrasviñas Rueda Verdejo 2009", this is a wine with designation of origin "Rueda wines" from the spanish Community of Castilla Leon. This is a wonderful fruity soup should be served at about 9º and whose price does not exceed 6€ per bottle.

Greetings.