This is really more "paella inspired" than actual paella. But it is really tasty and quick and easy to make. It uses frozen shellfish and a packaged saffron rice product.
Ingredients:
1 10oz or 2 5oz packages of Vigo Yellow Rice
2 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 ½ cups of cold water
1 Tbsp Better Than Bouillon Lobster Base
½ lb Frozen Uncooked Peeled Shrimp - Don't thaw (I use 21-31 Count or larger)
½ lb Frozen bay scollops - Don't thaw
½ lb Small Frozen clams on the half-shell
½ lb frozen mussels (I use frozen green shell mussels on the half shell that I get in Shoprite. If
you are using just the meats for mussels or clams, use less weight - about 4 ozs each)
1 Goya (or similar) cured chorizo sausage sliced about 1/8 inch thick
½ cup frozen green peas
1 pimento or roasted red pepper- drained (Optional but very traditional, at least for Spanish
Paella. The tradition is that the pimento represents the red portion of the Spanish Flag and the
saffron rice the yellow portion.)
Method:
1. Put rice and seasonings from the envelope in the pot of an electric rice cooker.
2. Add Olive Oil and mix to coat the rice grains with oil.
3. Add the still frozen seafood to the cooker..
4. Add lobster base paste to 2 1/2 cups of water, stir to mix. Add the water to the rice cooker and stir to mix it up. Try to prevent the seafood from forming a congealed frozen mass on top or it may interfere with the rice cooker's timing mechanism.
5. Add in the peas and chorizo slices. Lay the pimento or roasted pepper on top
6. Close the cover and start the rice cooker. If your rice cooker has different settings, select the
one for White Rice.
7. After the rice cooker alarms to signal it's done, open the cover and stir with a wooden spoon or
paddle to fluff the rice and distribute the seafood and other added ingredients.
Notes:
1. You can use any kind of frozen seafood you want. If you are using something extremely
delicate or prone to getting tough with overcooking, like squid, I suggest that it be cooked
separately and added in after the paella is done and allowed to heat through in the rice cooker for
5 mins before serving.
2. You can also add uncooked chicken pieces (I suggest cutting them small) at the beginning.
This is not untraditional.
3. You can add more or less of any of the seafood items or use fewer or more items (I have made
it with just shrimp, or just shrimp and scallops when I didn't have other ingredients handy). My
supermarket carries something in the frozen fish section called "Seafood Medley" which I often
use. It has a lot of squid in it and it is already cooked. This item I thaw out the amount I want
(usually about ½ of the bag) and add it in after the rice cooker "dings", let it sit for 5 mins then
stir it all up and serve.
Ingredients:
1 10oz or 2 5oz packages of Vigo Yellow Rice
2 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 ½ cups of cold water
1 Tbsp Better Than Bouillon Lobster Base
½ lb Frozen Uncooked Peeled Shrimp - Don't thaw (I use 21-31 Count or larger)
½ lb Frozen bay scollops - Don't thaw
½ lb Small Frozen clams on the half-shell
½ lb frozen mussels (I use frozen green shell mussels on the half shell that I get in Shoprite. If
you are using just the meats for mussels or clams, use less weight - about 4 ozs each)
1 Goya (or similar) cured chorizo sausage sliced about 1/8 inch thick
½ cup frozen green peas
1 pimento or roasted red pepper- drained (Optional but very traditional, at least for Spanish
Paella. The tradition is that the pimento represents the red portion of the Spanish Flag and the
saffron rice the yellow portion.)
Method:
1. Put rice and seasonings from the envelope in the pot of an electric rice cooker.
2. Add Olive Oil and mix to coat the rice grains with oil.
3. Add the still frozen seafood to the cooker..
4. Add lobster base paste to 2 1/2 cups of water, stir to mix. Add the water to the rice cooker and stir to mix it up. Try to prevent the seafood from forming a congealed frozen mass on top or it may interfere with the rice cooker's timing mechanism.
5. Add in the peas and chorizo slices. Lay the pimento or roasted pepper on top
6. Close the cover and start the rice cooker. If your rice cooker has different settings, select the
one for White Rice.
7. After the rice cooker alarms to signal it's done, open the cover and stir with a wooden spoon or
paddle to fluff the rice and distribute the seafood and other added ingredients.
Notes:
1. You can use any kind of frozen seafood you want. If you are using something extremely
delicate or prone to getting tough with overcooking, like squid, I suggest that it be cooked
separately and added in after the paella is done and allowed to heat through in the rice cooker for
5 mins before serving.
2. You can also add uncooked chicken pieces (I suggest cutting them small) at the beginning.
This is not untraditional.
3. You can add more or less of any of the seafood items or use fewer or more items (I have made
it with just shrimp, or just shrimp and scallops when I didn't have other ingredients handy). My
supermarket carries something in the frozen fish section called "Seafood Medley" which I often
use. It has a lot of squid in it and it is already cooked. This item I thaw out the amount I want
(usually about ½ of the bag) and add it in after the rice cooker "dings", let it sit for 5 mins then
stir it all up and serve.
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