Catalan Paella Recipe 395

PAELLA CATALANA

Steps:

• Halve 2 of the cloves of garlic and put them in the bottom of an Ovenproof dish. Slice the body of the cleaned squid into thin rings, and then cut its tentacles into small evenly sized pieces. Put the squid on top of the garlic and pour over half the red wine. Cover and cook for 1 hour in the Oven, stirring occasionally, until the squid is tender.
• Meanwhile, scrub the mussels under cold running water and scrape off all the beards and barnacles.
• Halve another clove of garlic, then finely chop the onion and parsley. Place the garlic halves, half of the chopped onion, the parsley, mussels and the rest of the red wine in a wide shallow pan, or casserole, with a tightly fitting lid. Cover the pan and bring to the boil, shaking frequently until all of the mussels are open. Reserving the cooking liquid, lift the mussels out of the pan with a slotted spoon and set them aside. Discard any of the mussels that have not opened.
• Halve, de-seed and roughly chop the pepper. Plunge the tomatoes into a bowl of hot water for 30 seconds, then into cold water for 1 minute, until cool enough to peel off the skins with your fingers. Chop the tomatoes roughly. Crush the remaining garlic with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
• When the squid is cooked, reserve the cooking liquid and drain. Remove the garlic halves and put the squid and the cooking liquid to one side.
• Skin the monkfish fillet, cutting off as much of the tough grey membrane as possible, with a filleting or other sharp knife. Cut the fish into bite-sized chunks. If desired, reserve some whole prawns for garnishing, or leave their tail flanges on. Shell the rest of the prawns with your fingers. Then making a shallow cut along the back of the prawn, remove the dark intestinal vein that runs along the back.
• Heat all the olive oil in a large pan and add the monkfish and prawns. Cook over a moderate heat for 5 minutes, stirring gently. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the pepper, tomatoes and the remaining onion and garlic. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened.
• Heat the stock in a separate pan until it is just simmering. Meanwhile, stir the brown rice into the pan, then pour in the reserved liquid from the mussels and squid. Gently bring to the boil and simmer uncovered until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Stir occasionally.
• As the amount of hot stock needed will vary according to the absorbency of the rice you are using, add it gradually in measures of about 1/2 pint (285ml) at a time. Cook over a moderate heat and stir frequently until each measure has been absorbed by the rice. After 30 minutes all the stock should be absorbed, and the rice should be just tender.
• Add the frozen peas, then after 1-2 minutes the monkfish, prawns and squid, and stir gently until heated right through. Season to taste and serve.

FIDEUà RECIPE (PASTA PAELLA)

Steps:

• Place the shrimp in a medium bowl, and toss with 1 TBSP oil, minced garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cover and place in fridge.
• Break the spaghetti into small pieces. You can either place it in a large Ziploc bag, or place it between two towels, and break with your hands. The pieces should be about 1-2 inches.
• Add 1 TBSP oil to a large skillet or paella pan and heat over medium heat. Add the broken spaghetti and toast until it's dark in color, being sure to toss constantly. It should take about 5-8 minutes for the pieces to turn deep golden brown.
• Remove the spaghetti from the pan and set aside.
• Add the remaining 2 TBSP oil to the pan and heat over medium-high. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and sauté until they start to soften.
• Drain the can of tomatoes well, using a mesh strainer to push the juices out.
• Add the tomatoes to the onions and sauté another 3 minutes. Add both paprikas and sliced garlic.
• Add the toasted spaghetti back to the pan, along with the seafood stock (and water if needed) to just cover the pasta. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, toss to combine, and bring to a simmer.
• Nestle the marinated shrimp and mussels into the pan and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until the pasta is al dente, the shrimp are cooked though and the mussels have opened.
• Meanwhile, make the aioli by combining all ingredients in a small bowl and stirring to combine.
• Serve the fideuà garnished with chopped parsley, provide aioli and lemon wedges on the side. Enjoy!

PAELLA A LA CATALONIA

Steps:

• Chop the chicken breast and pork into 1-inch cubes.
• Saute chicken, pork and onion in olive oil until crispy brown.
• Cut each lobster tail in three pieces, right through the shell, cutting away undershell.
• Add lobster, tomato and garlic to chicken and pork, and cook 2 minutes.
• Dissolve saffron in 2 Tbsp.
• boiling water, strain.
• Add saffron with rice, peas, salt and mussels, stir to coat rice with oil.
• Pour on boiling water and again bring to boil, cook over moderately high heat 10 minutes.
• Stir or shake to prevent sticking, cover tightly, keep in a warm place on stove 15 to 20 minutes longer until all liquid is absorbed.
• A very heavy skillet or cast-iron casserole will hold enough heat to complete cooking the rice; with a less heavy pan it may be necessary to have very low heat under it during this last stage- or place skillet or casserole in an oven set at 300ºF.
• Can be cooked entirely in a 10-inch skillet or a similarly sized pan.

CATALAN PAELLA RECIPE - (3.9/5)

Steps:

• Heat oil in large frying pan over medium heat. Add chicken pieces and saute until almost done. Add garlic and onions, and saute until soft. Add the rice and saffron, stirring to coat with oil, about one minute (tumeric can be used instead of saffron). Add tomatoes, wine and broth. Bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add pepper strips, artichoke hearts and peas. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add shrimp, clams and mussels and cook for 15 minutes or until rice is done. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.