Seafood Paella with Turmeric
Paella is a traditional Spanish dish that can be made with any combo of seafood, meat, chicken, or vegetarian with extra vegetables. I am informed in Spain it will often come with all of the above and is very rich and oily. My version is not so heavy, with seasonal vegetables from the garden. It is a very versatile family dinner we make often - our children aren't so keen on the mussels (yet) but they love the prawns and the sticky rice.
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion chopped
- 1 red pepper roughly chopped
- 1/2 chorizo sausage or 2 rashers bacon roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric; or 1 Tbsp fresh turmeric finely grated
- generous pinch of salt
- 1 litre fish or chicken stock + extra boiling water if needed
- 1 1/2 cups medium grain white rice
- Handful green beans or 1 cup frozen beans
- 1 zucchini sliced (or 1/2 cup frozen peas)
- handful cherry tomatoes halved
- 12 large green-lipped mussels cleaned and de-bearded (or 24 small mussels)
- 200 g frozen prawns thawed in a bowl of cold water
- Chopped coriander cilantro to garnish
- Lemon wedges to serve
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan (we used a traditional Paella pan as we have family in Spain who sent us one, but a large shallow pan will do). Add the onions, red pepper and chorizo and saute for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, turmeric, salt and stock. Bring to a gentle boil and pour in the rice. Don't stir. Cover with a lid and leave to cook for 10 minutes over a moderate heat.
- Lift the lid and check the liquid level, it should be mostly absorbed. If the pan is dry add 1/2 cup boiling water. Again don't stir the rice. Scatter over the vegetables, mussels and prawns. Replace the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes. Check the rice and vegetables are cooked, and that the mussels are open. Cook an extra 5 minutes if necessary. Garnish with coriander and serve with a wedge of lemon.
Notes
Notes: Depending on the pan you use to cook the paella, you may need to add extra boiling water or hot stock if the liquid is absorbed quickly. You want the rice to be just cooked with no liquid remaining.