Italian Inspired Paella

Paella

Ingredients:

1 can (15oz) crushed tomatoes
1.5 cups Arborio rice
Frozen muscles, octopus, calamari
6 shrimp
Portuguese sausage (chorizo or kielbasa also work)
Chicken (I used leftover rotisserie chicken)
1 Onion
Parsley (Fresh) (Italian parsley works well too!)
3 Cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Spices: Paprika (smoked), garlic power, onion powder
Lemon wedges

STEP ONE: The Sofrito Heat olive oil in a pan then add chopped/diced onion and chopped garlic. Season with paprika, salt and pepper, then cook for 3-4 minutes, until translucent. Add a handful chopped parsley (about a cup). Cook for 2 minutes. Add can of crushed tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes.

STEP TWO: The Rice Add 1.5 cups of arborio rice to the pan, stir, then pour in 1 cup of water and stir until well mixed. Add a teaspoon of paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder to the pan, stir. Put the lid on the pan and turn the heat down low.

STEP THREE: The Meat: Slice the sausage into thin pieces, about 1/2 an inch thick. Heat a separate pan and add the sausage slices. Cook until browned. Set sausage aside. Chop and shred rotisserie chicken then squeeze the juice of half of a lemon over the cooked chicken and set aside.

Using the same pan that you used to cook the sausage (DO NOT WASH), add 1/4 tablespoon of butter. Once butter is melted, add 6 shrimp to the pan and squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the pan and season with paprika, salt, pepper. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side until the shrimp become pink and opaque. Set the shrimp aside.

Check on your rice, if it looks dry, add more water about 1/4 cup at a time.

STEP FOUR: Putting it all together: Take the lid off of the pan with your rice in it. Add chicken, sausage, and about 20 stems of saffron. Stiff very lightly (try not to disturb the bottom layer). Wait ten minutes. Check on rice. If it seems close to done (al dente, firm, most water is gone) add the muscles and calamari to the pan by burying each piece of seafood into the rice. DO NOT STIR. Cover with lid and leave for 8 minutes.

If you use frozen muscles/calamari make sure to defrost BEFORE adding to your paella. If you add the frozen seafood straight from the freezer the defrosting process will add a lot of extra water to your dish, diluting the deep flavors you have been building the last 45 minutes!

TO DEFROST: put frozen seafood into a plastic bowl and add warm water from the sink. Let sit for 5 minutes, drain, repeat. Do this while you prep the rest of your ingredients and by the time you are ready to add the seafood they will be gently defrosted!

STEP FIVE: Serve! Use a spatula to take a heaping portion of paella out of the an. FLIP the paella when you place it on the plate so the crispy side is facing up (treat the paella on your spatula lie a pancake and flip it!). Push the rice to the sides of the plate leaving a shallow valley in the center of your plate. Add three shrimp, a lemon wedge, and a little fresh parsley.