Breakfast Paella Recipes

THE ULTIMATE PAELLA

Steps:

• Combine the paprika and oregano in a small bowl. Rub the spice mix all over the chicken and marinate chicken for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
• Heat oil in a paella pan over medium-high heat. Saute the chorizo until browned, remove and reserve. Add chicken skin-side down and brown on all sides, turning with tongs. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from pan and reserve.
• In the same pan, make a sofrito by sauteing the onions, garlic, and parsley. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes on a medium heat. Then, add tomatoes and cook until the mixture caramelizes a bit and the flavors meld. Fold in the rice and stir-fry to coat the grains. Pour in water and simmer for 10 minutes, gently moving the pan around so the rice cooks evenly and absorbs the liquid. Add chicken, chorizo, and saffron. Add the clams and shrimp, tucking them into the rice. The shrimp will take about 8 minutes to cook. Give the paella a good shake and let it simmer, without stirring, until the rice is al dente, for about 15 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, when the rice is filling the pan, add the lobster tails. When the paella is cooked and the rice looks fluffy and moist, turn the heat up for 40 seconds until you can smell the rice toast at the bottom, then it's perfect.
• Remove from heat and rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with peas, parsley and lemon wedges.

ALL-AMERICAN PAELLA

Steps:

• In a very large skillet (at least 14 inches in diameter), or in a 15-inch paella pan, heat three-quarters of a cup of the olive oil over high heat until very hot, about two minutes. Add the chicken-wing drumsticks and the sausages and saute, turning frequently, for about five minutes, until the meats are nicely browned. Remove and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Discard the oil in the skillet and add the remaining quarter cup of olive oil; heat over medium-high heat for 30 seconds. Add the onion and garlic and saute for five minutes, stirring frequently, or just until the onion begins to turn golden brown. Add the chopped tomatoes, pureed red peppers and pulverized chili pepper, and simmer over medium-high heat for five minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add the rice to the skillet and stir over medium-high heat for two minutes. Add the hot chicken broth, white wine, lemon juice, parsley, chives, bay leaf, salt, pepper and hot-pepper sauce. Stir over medium-high heat for five minutes.
• Turn off the heat and add to the skillet the reserved chicken wings and sausages, the lobster, ham, mussels, squid and sugar snap peas. Stir once, carefully, and place the skillet, uncovered, in the preheated oven. After 20 minutes, taste the rice to make sure it is completely cooked. If so, remove from oven and cover loosely with foil. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

QUICK AND EASY PAELLA

Steps:

• Cook and stir reserved shrimp shells and 2 teaspoons olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat until shells are pink and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir saffron into shells; add chicken broth, bring to a simmer, and cook until broth is a rusty brown and fragrant, about 20 minutes.
• Strain saffron broth through a fine-mesh sieve; measure out 2 cups of broth, pour into a small saucepan, and place over low heat to keep broth hot.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Cook chorizo slices in hot oil until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Add onion to sausage; cook and stir until soft and slightly translucent, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low.
• Stir garlic into chorizo mixture; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add rice to skillet and stir to coat rice completely in oil; stir in peas.
• Pat rice mixture evenly into the bottom of the skillet. Arrange shrimp in a single layer over the top of the rice. Lay pepper strips around and in between shrimp; season with salt, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
• Increase heat to high. When rice begins to sizzle in the skillet, pour reserved 2 cups hot saffron broth over the shrimp; gently shake the skillet to distribute liquid.
• Bake rice mixture in the preheated oven until rice is almost tender and still a bit wet, about 20 minutes.
• Place skillet over medium-high and cook until rice is tender, liquid is absorbed, and rice caramelizes and crusts slightly on the bottom of the skillet, 3 to 5 minutes.