Grilled Lobster Paella Recipes

EASY SEAFOOD PAELLA RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large pot, bring 3 cups of water to a rolling boil. Add the lobster tails and let boil very briefly (1-2 minutes) until pink. Turn the heat off. Remove the lobster tails with a pair of tongs. Do not discard the lobster cooking water. When the lobster is cool enough to handle, remove the shell and cut into large chunks.
• In a large deep pan or cast iron skillet, heat 3 tbsp olive oil. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the chopped onions. Saute the onions for 2 minutes then add the rice, and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring regularly. Now add the chopped garlic and the lobster cooking water. Stir in the saffron and it's soaking liquid, paprika, cayenne pepper, aleppo pepper, and salt. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and green beans. Bring to a boil and let the liquid slightly reduce, then cover (with lid or tightly with foil) and cook on low heat for 20 minutes.
• Uncover and spread the shrimp over the rice, pushing it into the rice slightly. Add a little water if needed. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes or until the shrimp turns pink. Finally, add the cooked lobster chunks. When the lobster is warmed through, turn heat off. Garnish with parsley.
• Serve the paella hot with your favorite white wine.

PAELLA ON THE GRILL

Steps:

• Light several chimney starters filled with charcoal and let burn until the briquettes are covered with gray ash. Put the charcoal in the center of the bottom of a large kettle grill, place the grate on and cover the grill. Let heat for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
• Brush the chicken with some of the canola oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the chicken skin-side down on the cooler part of the grill (the outer rim), to cook indirectly and slowly, and put the lid on. Cook the chicken until golden brown on both sides and almost completely cooked through, about 12 minutes for breasts and 15 minutes for thighs and wings. Remove to a sheet pan. Cut the breasts into 3 or 4 pieces.
• Combine the chicken stock and saffron in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer, either on the hot part of the grill or on a burner. Add the clams, cover and cook until the clams open, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the clams to a bowl. Add the mussels to the broth, cover and cook until the mussels open, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Discard any shellfish that don't open.
• Brush the shrimp, the cut sides of the lobsters, scallops, and cut sides of the lemons with some of the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper on all sides. Grill the shrimp for about 1 minute per side. Grill the lobster cut-side down until charred and just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove the claws and the tails but leave the shells on; discard the bodies. Grill the scallops until slightly charred and almost cooked through, about 1 minute per side. Grill the lemon cut-side down until charred, about 45 seconds. Remove all ingredients to sheet pans.
• Heat 3 tablespoons canola oil in a large paella pan over direct heat. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown and crisp, about 5 minutes.
• Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, for a few minutes. Begin adding the stock 1 cup at a time and cook, stirring constantly, until the rice is al dente, about 25 minutes.
• Arrange the chicken, clams mussels, shrimp, scallop, peas, lobster and piquillo peppers in the rice. Squeeze the juice from 4 of the lemon halves over the top, and nestle the 4 other halves in the rice. Scatter the parsley over the top. Stir gently to bring some of the rice up from the bottom, and serve.

GRILLED LOBSTER PAELLA

Steps:

• Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill. Let burn down to red-hot coals; rake to edge of grill. (For backup, start a second round of coals in a charcoal chimney on pavement nearby.) Put a 16"-18" paella pan on grill grate; heat 1/2 cup olive oil. Add 3/4 lb. Spanish chorizo, sliced into 1/2"-thick rounds, and 6 stalks green garlic, thinly sliced, or 2 finely chopped leeks, white and light-green parts only; cook until golden, 3-4 minutes.
• Add 1 tablespoon smoked paprika and 2 1/2 cups short-grain rice (such as bomba, Valencia, or calasparra); cook, stirring often, until rice is coated, 2 minutes. Add 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads to 7 cups hot seafood or chicken stock. Add stock to pan and season to taste with kosher salt; stir to distribute ingredients. Let cook, undisturbed, until stock simmers and rice begins to absorb liquid, about 10 minutes. Rotate pan every 2-3 minutes to cook evenly.
• Arrange 3 1-1 1/4-pound lobsters, halved lengthwise, claws cracked, over the rice. Continue cooking, rotating the pan often, as the rice swells and absorbs the stock. Add more coals from charcoal chimney to maintain even heat under the pan. Cook until the rice is almost tender and the lobster is cooked through, about 10 more minutes.
• Scatter 2 cups shelled peas or frozen peas, thawed, on top. (If the liquid evaporates before the rice is tender, add more hot stock.) Cook without stirring, allowing rice to absorb all of the liquid, so that a crust (the socarrat) develops on the bottom and the edges begin to dry out and get crusty, 5-10 minutes, for a total cooking time of about 40 minutes.
• Remove pan from grill. Cover with large clean kitchen towels and let rest for 5 minutes. Garnish with 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley and serve with 3 halved lemons, making sure to scrape some of the socarrat from the bottom of the pan onto each plate.

GRILLED PAELLA

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix the paprika and garlic powder. Season the chicken, shrimp and calamari with the mixture. Brush both sides of the meat and seafood with 3 tablespoons of the canola oil. Let marinate 1 hour refrigerated.
• Preheat a grill to medium-high heat.
• Season both sides of the meat and seafood generously with salt and pepper. Grill the chicken a few minutes per side to crisp the skin, then move to a cooler part of the grill to finish cooking, about 10 minutes. Remove and place on a baking sheet. Grill the shrimp 1 to 2 minutes per side, then remove to the baking sheet. Grill the calamari a few minutes per side. Slice the calamari into rings on a cutting board and transfer to the baking sheet. Grill the lemon halves cut-side down until grill-marked, 3 to 4 minutes; transfer to the baking sheet. Set aside.
• In a saucepan, combine the chicken stock and saffron threads. Bring to a simmer, whisking until the saffron dissolves. (This can be done on the grill as well, or on the stove inside and brought out to the grill area. The stock should be hot while you are making the paella.)
• Place an 18-inch paella pan (or large cast-iron skillet) over the hottest part of the grill. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons canola oil, add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the fat starts to render and it begins to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the rice, coating it in the chorizo fat and toasting it, about 2 minutes. Using a ladle, begin to add the stock, stirring constantly. Cook, continuing to add the stock as it absorbs, until the rice is al dente, 15 to 20 minutes. Once the stock is absorbed, stir in the peas. Now, stop stirring to allow the "soccarrat" to form (this is the crispy bottom on the rice; it's not burnt!). Allow the bottom to crisp up for about 5 minutes.
• Arrange the chicken, seafood, lemon halves and peppers on top of the rice. Sprinkle the parsley and scallions over the top. Use a spoon or spatula to scrape up the crispy bottom of the rice and serve.