Paella Mother Dish Technique
My underlying paella recipe starts with Spanish chorizo, saffron and smoked paprika. This flavor profile provides a foundation to make any number of ingredients sing. Here is a template that you can use to highlight whatever is coming from the garden or the farmers' market.For the full description of this recipe, please visit https://thought4food.life/paella-mother-dish-technique/
Equipment
- Enameled cast iron braiser, or enameled cast iron Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 3-4 oz. Spanish chorizo casing removed & chopped to a small dice
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion (6-8 oz) finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 big garlic cloves minced
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 20 saffron threads crumbled,
- 1.5 cups short grain brown rice
- 2 oz dry white wine
- 4 cups GOOD broth
- Cook-ins, tuck-ins and toppings
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place an enameled cast iron braiser on the stovetop at medium-high heat. Sauté chorizo in olive oil to render the fat from the sausage.
- Add the diced onion with ½ teaspoon of salt and stir. If there isn’t enough oil to make the onions glisten, add another splash. Sauté until the onions are softened and translucent.
- Stir in the garlic, then make a well and add tomato paste to the center of the well. After a minute or two, stir together the aromatic mixture.
- Add the rice and coat it well with the aromatic mixture. Stir in the saffron, paprika and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Add the dry white wine and use a wooden spatula to deglaze any fond that developed during the previous steps.
- Add the broth and stir. Also add any cook-in ingredients (see notes). Turn the heat up to high, and bring to a boil.
- Cover the pot and place in the oven. Cook for 50 minutes adding tuck-in ingredients (see notes) at appropriate times.
- Remove from the oven. Optionally develop a socarrat (see notes) by placing the uncovered braising pan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Either add any top-on ingredients (see notes) to the top of the paella and serve from the pan, or plate portions and add any top-on ingredients directly to the plate.
Notes
- While the rice mixture cooks for 60 minutes, other ingredients may be added over time. The idea is to add things at time intervals that are appropriate for their required cooking times.
- Things that can stand up to a full 60 minutes of poaching alongside the rice are cook-ins. They are added before the pot is brought to a boil.
- Tuck-ins are added later in the process. Note, I am calling them tuck-ins and not mix-ins. Traditionally, once the rice is added, paella is not stirred. Additional ingredients get tucked into the cooking rice. But, if you choose to mix things in, I won’t tell. I do it sometimes myself. Tuck-ins are added at times that are appropriate for their nature. For example, chicken may be added with 30 minutes remaining, but shrimp should only go in with about 6-8 minutes of time remaining.
- Be aware that adding large amounts of refrigerated or room temperature tuck-ins will reduce the temperature of the pot as a whole. Cooking times may have to be adjusted.
- Toppings are things that are cooked separately and added to the top of the paella as it comes out of the oven, or on top of the plated paella. Toppings are cooked separately to add characteristics that go nicely with the paella that would not be achieved by cooking in the pot with the rice. For example, scallops will cook just fine as a tuck-in with 6-8 minutes remaining in the cook time. But, pan searing the scallops separately adds a welcome new dimension to the the dish. I often step out to the gas grill for a few minutes to get a nice smokey char on an ingredient added topping.
- And, sometimes tuck-ins can get some separate attention as well. For example, what I do with chicken thighs. First they get a good seasoning. Next they get their skin browned in the braiser pan before the chorizo is added. Once they’re browned up, they are removed, and the rendered schmaltz stays in the pan add a depth of flavor to the entire dish. The browned chicken gets tucked in, skin side up, with 30 minutes remaining in the cooking process.
- A traditionally cooked paella will have a socarrat which is a layer of crispy, caramelized rice at the bottom of the pan. Many think it’s the best part of the dish. The socarrat develops in a traditionally cooked paella because the rice doesn’t get stirred and the open top pan over an open flame allows the humidity to escape. Optionally, a socarrat can be developed here after removing from the oven, by removing the top of the braising pan and putting over a medium-high burner for 5-10 minutes.
- Garnishes: If the paella uses a seafood based broth, lemon slices make a nice garnish. Parsley is always a winner given the base flavor profile of chorizo, paprika, and saffron.
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