Pacific Northwest Seafood Paella
Equipment
- 14 inch paella pan (optional)
Ingredients
For the Broth...
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 onion sliced
- 2 carrots sliced
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
- 2 qts water
- 4 cloves garlic smashed
- 4 thyme sprigs
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large chipotle chile in adobo
- large pinch saffron threads
- salt
For the Paella...
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 scallions cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 onion diced
- 1 cup short grain Spanish rice
- 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/4 cup fresh peas
- 6 large shrimp shells reserved
- 1/2 lb clams
- 1/2 lb mussels
- 1 Dungeness crab cooked, cleaned and broken down
Instructions
For the Broth...
- Heat oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add shells of shrimp. Cook until just brown, stirring frequently. Add onions and carrots. Saute for another 5 minutes. Add tomato paste to the pot and cook for another 2 minutes. Add sherry vinegar and water to the pot. Bring to boil.
- Stir in the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, chipotle, and saffron. Reduce heat and cook for 30-45 minutes.
- Strain solids from broth using a fine mesh sieve. This should yield 4 cups of broth.
For the Paella...
- Re-heat broth in saucepan until warm.
- Heat oil in paella pan over a medium-hot fire. Add scallions and onion. Reduce heat or move to the cooler side of the fire. Stir in rice to dish and cook for another 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and peas.
- Pour in broth to paella pan until rice is fully saturated. There may be excess broth leftover depending on how much you reduced your broth while cooking. Cover with foil. Cook undisturbed for 25 minutes, and the broth has been absorbed.
- Distribute the clams, and mussels throughout the dish. Recover and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook for another 5 minutes until shrimp is pink and the clams and mussels are open. Discard any clams or mussels that do not open. Add crab to the dish and serve immediately.