Name: Paella
Yield: Serves 8–10
Ingredients: 3 lemons, quartered; 1 large red pepper, grilled, skinned, de-seeded and sliced; 500 g (1 lb) mussels; 250 g (9 oz) monkfish; 1½ kg (3½ lb) roasting chicken, with giblets; 2 litres (3½ pints) light stock or water; 1 small lobster, uncooked or ready-boiled, cut up by the fishmonger; 500 g (1 lb) prawns, preferably of varying sizes; 1 medium-size squid, about 250 g (9 oz) in weight; 4 large artichoke hearts, cooked (optional); tomato paste or sugar, if needed; 1 large onion, chopped finely; 250 g (9 oz) tomatoes, peeled and chopped; olive oil; 175 g (6 oz) shelled young peas; a generous pinch of saffron; 3 large cloves of garlic, chopped finely; 500 ml (¾ pint) Spanish or Italian rice (about 400 g/14 oz); 1–2 × 5 ml spoon (1 heaped teaspoon) paprika; salt and pepper

Preparation info

Serves
8–10

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

The Cooking of the Mediterranean

By Jane Grigson

Published 1991

About

Like Couscous, Paella is one of those magnificent dishes that need a party to share them. A picnic by the sea in this case, I think, with the shallow pan bubbling gently over a driftwood fire. Again like Couscous, there is no one ‘right’ recipe. The only essential ingredients are rice and saffron (do not be tempted to substitute turmeric – make your economies elsewhere if necessary!). Flavourings can be meat and poultry alone, or fish and shellfish alone,