Recipe - Catalan tierra y mar - Paella
With a suply of food from the mountains, plains and Mediterranean, Catalans tend to use ingredients from both in their paella and describe it as tierra y mar (land and sea). This recipe uses chicken although rabbit is often used in Catalonia.Feel free to add any meat ingredient and remove any you do not have (although the mussels and prawns are essential ingredients). Catalan tierra y mar paella is cooked using whatever meat and seafood is available - be creative!
Suggested ingredients (for four people): ½ cup white wine 1 large red onion, chopped 12 mussels, scrubbed, with beards removed ½ cup olive oil 1 chicken breast fillet cut into cubes 275g raw medium prawns 100g calamari, cleaned and cut into rings 100g white fish (boneless), cut into cubes 1 slice bacon, finely chopped 4 cloves garlic, crushed 1 small red capsicum, finely chopped 1 tomato, peeled and chopped ½ cup fresh or frozen peas 90g chorizo or pepperoni, thinly sliced Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1 cup uncooked long-grain rice ¼ teaspoon powdered saffron 2 cups chicken stock, heated 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley |
 Catalan Paella |
Directions: Soak the cleaned mussels for 2 hours in cold water. Important: discard any open or damaged ones. Heat the wine and half the onion in a large pan. Add mussels, cover and shake the pan for 5 minutes over high heat. After 3 minutes start removing opened mussels and set aside, at the end of 5 minutes discard any unopened mussels. Save the cooking liquid for use in the stock. Pat-dry the chicken cubes with paper towels. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan and cook the chicken for fiveminutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside. Add the prawns, calamari rings and fish pieces; cook for one minute. Remove from pan and set aside. Heat the remaining oil in pan; add the remaining onion plus bacon, garlic and capsicum to pan. Cook for five minutes or until onion is soft. Add tomato, peas, chorizo or pepperoni, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Add reserved cooking liquid, stir to combine. Add the rice and mix well. Blend powdered saffron with ½ cup of the stock; add mixture with remaining stock to rice mixture; mix well. Bring slowly to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer rice mixture, uncovered, 15 minutes without stirring. Place chicken pieces, prawns, calamari and fish on top of rice. Using a wooden spoon, gently push pieces into rice; cover and continue to cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes, or until rice is tender and seafood cooked. Serve the Paella, topped with mussels and sprinkled with parsley. |
|
 |
More Catalan Recipes |
|