3.3 ounces of extra virgin olive oil
7 ounces of actual Spanish chorizo in thick 1-inch slices. (I use palacios and buy it from amazon)
5 cloves of thickly sliced garlic
1.2 yellow, onion diced not minced. Sofrito is a prolonged process and small pieces of onion can easily burn
.6 of a diced red bell pepper
6 Roma tomatoes, grated. Approximately 1.5 lbs
Salt to taste
9.25 oz of squid, 1 inch tube slices and intact tentacles. Keep the tubes and tentacles separate as they are added to the paella separately.
21 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into three pieces each
8 oz pork shoulder cut into small 1/3-inch cubes (optional and can be replaced with more chicken)
2.3 cups of Bomba rice from Valencia, Spain
.5 Tbsp of sweet paprika (i don't use if I am using good quality Sanish chorizo)
6.9 cups of chicken broth
.5 grams of saffron
2.25 ounces of live clams
2.25 ounces of live mussels
22 oz of peeled shrimp and fish. Fish should be in pieces that will cook at the same rate as will the shrimp.
2 oz of peas
4 oz of steamed asparagus
3 oz sweet pimento
1/2 lemon per serving
There is a civil war between the founders of Paella in Valencia and the rest of Spain as to what can be called a "true" Paella. The Valencianos are purists and make their Paella Valenciana and consider this Paella Mixta recipe as "arroz con cosas" or "rice with things". I grew up with this Paella in Andalucia and this is an attempt to faithfully replicate the paella of my youth. It may be looked down upon in Valencia, but this paella is enjoyed every Sunday all over Spain among friends and family.
More on civil war (use translate):
https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcomidista/2016/10/13/articulo/1476372723_268242.html
Make sure paella pan is both centered and level. Even cooking of all the rice demands that the paella pan is centered. You also don't want to add stock and then find out that by not having leveled the pan, you aren't covering the rice and ingredients evenly when you add your stock.
This paella is for 8 people and uses a 45 cm paella and 2.3 cups of rice. If you have a larger or a hungrier crowd, you can easily scale.
Assemble and prepare ingredients before you start. You will be grateful you did.
Fire inner ring to slowly make sofrito
Add olive oil
As oil begins to heat up, add and fry the chorizo for several minutes to render some fat. Move then to perimeter of pan. You don't want to cook through. 5 minutes
Add onion and fry slowly until liquid has boiled out and has the degree of sweetness/carmelization you prefer . Adding salt will accelerate this process while adding flavor
Add in the red pepper and fry until soft 10-15 minutes
Add the garlic and fry until becomes translucent while taking care not to burn
Add the grated tomato ,mix in with onion, garlic and peppers and fry until liquid evaporates and "the sofrito melts together like a nice jam.
Taste again for salt
Now mix sofrito with the chorizo on the perimeter and move the entire mixture back to the perimeter of pan
Heat the stock in a separate container. It will need to be boiling when you add it to pan.
Sprinkle the squid with salt and then fry until the water released is eliminated and the remaining liquid is oil-(there will be lots of liquid from squid and this will take a few minutes) then move to perimeter with the sofrito
Dry and salt chicken, and then just brown the chicken and then move to perimeter with all previous ingredients (don't cook through)
Dry and salt pork shoulder, just brown and then move to perimeter with all previous ingredients (don't cook through)
With low flame, mix all ingredients to this point (sofrito and fried items), spread the mixture evenly around pan
Then sprinkle/spread the rice evenly across top.
Fry slowly for several minutes until oil rises and rice starts to become translucent
Distribute the pimento evenly over all ingredients and be prepared shortly to add broth as pimenton burns quickly (Omit or minimize if using Chorizo as the chorizo has paprika/pimento as an ingredient already)
Add saffron to boiling broth and stir
Add the boiling broth by pouring over a large spoon or flat ladle in middle of paella pan to avoid eroding the mixture of ingredients you have carefully and evenly distributed
Fire All Rings, Add Boiling Stock, Adjust Flame to High at first and Lower as Water Evaporates,
Keep a Nice Steady Simmer All Over Surface.
This is your indication that the heat is even across the entire Paella
The approximate goal is to keep a steady simmer that cooks your rice over the next 20 minutes
Reduce flame when Stock approaches rice level and occasionally shake pan or rotate it (If small enough pan)to evenly distribute remaining liquid while boiling
Add clams evenly with hinge side down. (Clams
before mussels as clams take significantly longer to open).
Once stock reaches rice level add mussels hinge side down.
As Mussels Open and Some Boiling Stock Remains Visible at Bottom of Pan
Salt, dry and distribute shrimp and fish evenly on top of paella. Bury half of each piece in rice
Spread peas across top of paella
Decorate the top of paella with asparagus spears, pimento slices or however you choose with whatever ingredients
Turn up heat for 1 -3 minute to get a crust on the bottom of pan which is called socarrat
Turn off all flame
Cover with newspaper, weight down
at perimeter with lemons or any other weight, and wait 5-10 minutes
Make 1/2 lemon available for each serving
