In an attempt to cook more seafood, ML and I have come up with a list of dishes we love and want to make and will slowly work down that list (more to come on this later). Our first dish was a paella of course. It is said that paella originated in the farms as a means of cook large amounts of rice in one go for the farmers. As this dish grew in popularity so did the ingredients change. Over the years as this recipe got adopted by people near the Mediterranean cost, the proteins that went into this dish changed from rabbit, snails, duck to include more seafood.

Here is an amazing recipe for seafood paella that can be cooked up in under an hour and much to the chagrin of your local Spanish restaurant owner.

Serves 5-6

Pre-heat the oven to 450° F. Take 1/2 lb of peeled and deveined shrimp, 1/3 lb of scallops and 1/2 lb of calamari (chopped into 1/2″ wide pieces) into a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2-3 minced cloves of garlic, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and mix well. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for later.

If you do not have a paella pan (14-15″ shallow skillet), no worries as you can use a large Dutch oven instead. Cut up a red bell pepper into longitudinal slices about 1/4-1/2″ in width. Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in the Dutch oven and toss the cut bell pepper into the pot. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the skin is peeling and is slightly black. Remove from the pot and set aside. We will add this the paella at th end.

Chop up an 8 oz. chorizo into 1/4″ slices. You can chop them on the bias (diagonally at a sharp angle) for a larger surface area and even cooking. Toss the cut chorizo into the pan on medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Once the chorizo is dark brown and the fat has been rendered, remove from the pot and set aside.

Next we’ll make the Sofrito, which is the aromatic combination of tomatoes, garlic and onions cooked to a paste that serves as the base of the paella. Using the same oil from the chorizo, toss in 1 cup of chopped onions and heat on medium heat for 3-4 minutes. While the onions cook, drain a 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes in a fine mesh strainer or lining a pasta strainer with paper towels. Squeeze out as much water as you can. Toss in 7-8 minced cloves of garlic and stir for a minute. Add in the strained diced tomatoes and cook uncovered for 4-5 minutes.

To the dutch oven, add in 2 cups of rice. A short grain rice works better as they are more absorbent, such as Italian arborio. Allow the rice to soak in the sofrito for 4-5 minutes. Once the rice has absorbed some of the aromatics, mix in 3 cups of chicken broth, 1/3 cup of dry white wine, 1-2 bay leaves, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1-2 strand of saffron if you have (these are expensive and hard to come by but are worth it for the aroma they create). Add in the chorizo to the pot. Bring the mix to a boil and then cover and place the pot into the oven for 15 minutes.

Remove the pot from the oven, uncover and toss in the seafood medley we made earlier. Mix in well with the rice. Even out the rice in the pot and add in a dozen mussels seam-side down so that they cook from the inside with the heat from the rice. Add in the strips of red bell pepper. Cover and place the pot back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes until seafood cooks and rice absorbs all the liquid.

Remove from the oven and let the paella sit covered for 5 minutes. Check all mussels have opened up, discarding those that haven’t. Serve in a bowl with freshly chopped parsley and a wedge of lime.