Seafood Paella - from CookUK

Seafood Paella

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Seafood Paella Recipe

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A real taste of the sea with this seafood paella recipe. Easy to cook on a barbecue and paella pan or on the stove in a frying pan. Our pictures, hints, tips and video make this easy to cook.

KEY POINTS

Preparation Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 40 mins

How Difficult Medium Freeze? No

Servings
4 portions

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SEAFOOD PAELLA - COOK'S NOTES
We cook our seafood paella in the traditional manner on a barbecue in a paella pan. However it is equally good when cooked on the hob in a large based frying pan. Click here for lots of information about paella pans and cooking paellas in general.

The trick with a seafood paella is quite simple, make the basic recipe and add the seafood which you like best. There are hundreds of so called different seafood paella recipes but they all come down to the same principle - a good paella base with seafood added. Just make sure that the fish is cooked long enough without over cooking it.

Seafood Paella

Our recipe calls for king prawns which only need to be heated through for a minute if pre-cooked or 6 minutes if frozen and monkfish which takes about six minutes to cook on top of the paella.

A good strong stock is essential for a good seafood paella and there are a couple of ways to achieve this. The easiest of course is to use fish stock cubes and they don't do a bad job. But if you buy your fish from a fishmonger then ask him for fish off-cuts. These can be added to water and simmered for 20 minutes to make the best stock of all.

A half way house is to buy whole monkfish from your fishmonger and use the head to make the stock in combination with a reduced amount of stock cubes.

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients	How Much
Onion	1 medium
Ripe tomatoes	Approximately 500g / 1lb 1oz
Paella rice	310g / 11oz
King Prawns (frozen or fresh)	Approximately 200g
Monkfish filleted	Approximately 300g
Garlic cloves	1 large
Fish stock (fresh or two fish stock cubes in hot water)	800ml / 29½fl oz / just under 1½ pints
Parsley - flat leaf	15g to 25g
Sweet paprika (pimenton)	1 teaspoon
Saffron	One good pinches (15 or so strands)
Lemon (optional for decoration only)	1
Virgin olive oil	2 tablespoons
Salt and pepper	To taste

COOKING EQUIPMENT
A 30cm / 12im paella pan or large frying pan - see here for dimensions.

PREPARATION
Onion - peel, top and tail and finely chop
Garlic - peel, top and tail and finely chop
Monkfish - filet if not already done, chop into bite sized chunks (see video and pictures for size)
Parsley - finely chop
Tomatoes - remove skin and finely chop or blend in a food processor

COOK'S NOTES FOR SEAFOOD PAELLA
All paellas originate from Valencian paella but the Seafood Paella has been around so long that it is generally accepted to be a true paella in its own right. The fish used in this recipe will vary according to where in Spain the paella is cooked so feel free to substitute your own choice of sea food.

Our video below shows us cooking the paella in the traditional fashion on a barbecue using a paella pan. However, a very good paella can be cooked on your cooker hob using a large frying pan using exactly the same method.

In this seafood paella recipe we use frozen prawns which take about 5 to 6 minutes to cook in the paella. Fresh prawns will take about three minutes to cook. If you are using cooked prawns then they will take about a minute to warm through. So adjust the time you add the prawns according to their state.

There are a few basic principles behind cooking any good paella and we describe these in lots of detail here.

Note that the video below says to add 900ml of stock but in the ingredients above we state 800ml. After cooking the seafood paella with 900ml of stock we felt that slightly less was needed. However, a lot does depend at what temperature you cook the paella and also how long the tomatoes are simmered. Initially we suggest using 800ml of stock and add a little bit more water if the rice becomes too dry during cooking.

VIDEO OF SEAFOOD PAELLA
(best viewed in full screen mode)

Method

Add the olive oil and the chopped onions to the pan on a medium heat. Fry for 5 minutes turning them frequently to ensure they soften but don't brown.
Add the saffron (crumbling it up as you add it), garlic and sweet paprika. Stir it all up well for a minute or so.

Now add the tomatoes and simmer them for eight minutes. Stir the mixture around the pan frequently to disperse the saffron and paprika evenly throughout the other ingredients.
Add the rice and stir all the ingredients thoroughly for one minute.

Now add the stock and stir all the ingredients well. Using your spatula ensure that the rice is spread evenly over the base of the pan. Season with salt and pepper.
Leave the rice alone from now on and cook the paella for 15 minutes until most but not all the liquid is absorbed.

Add the monkfish first then the prawns and settle them into the surface of the paella. Cook for five more minutes.
Garnish with lemon quarters if you want and sprinkle the chopped parsley evenly over the top.