Traditional Spanish Paella Recipe

By Stefanie Payne

First created in the mid 19th century in Valencia, this dish of rice and seafood has not only become single-most identifying symbol of Valencia, but the signature dish of all of Spain.

Paella Ingredients:

8 chicken legs and thighs

1 chorizo sausage, sliced

½ lb. ham, diced

1 dz. mussels

1 dz. clams

1 dz. prawns, shelled and deveined

¼ cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 cup peas

4 Tbsp. parsley, chopped

1 can whole pimentos, coarsely chopped

2 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. cracked pepper

¼ tsp. saffron

2 cups long grain rice

4 cups chicken stock

Paella Method:
Pre-fry chicken in a skillet large enough to hold all ingredients. Once cooked set aside and keep warm. In the same skillet, sauté chorizo and ham in olive oil until lightly browned. Add bell pepper, onion, and rice. Continue cooking until onions are transparent.

While mixture is cooking, dust chicken with saffron. Add peas to rice mixture, then arrange chicken, clams, mussels and prawns across the top. Dust with oregano, parsley and pimento, then cover. Cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes covered before removing lid.

Saffron Rice Ingredients:

1 ½ cups, long grain rice

½ tsp. saffron threads dissolved in 1 cup water

2 ½ cups water

½ stick unsalted butter

Saffron Rice Method:
In a medium sauce pan, melt butter and add rice, stirring until coated over medium heat. Add saffron mixture, water and salt to taste and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and simmer for approximately twenty minutes until rice is tender.

Stefanie Payne

I am a product development lead in NASA's human exploration deep space program at headquarters in Washington, DC. When I am not telling the story of human exploration in space, my focus is on writing about travel on Earth—with articles appearing in The Huffington Post, The Travel Channel, blogs for The National Geographic Society, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessInsider, IBTimes and more. ...(Read More)