The origin of this dish from Spain comes from the eastern part of Spain, Valencia. The dish originates to make use of what the land here offers. When you are near the sea it will be made with sea food, but inland a vegetable and chicken or rabbit version is the preference. The main ingredient is rice and of course it would be, since in these lands you will finds large areas suitable for the growing of a very nice round grain of rice. To this, it is added some vegetables and meat or seafood all cooked with the fragrance of saffron and paprika in a large open two handle pan called " paella". The name of the dish originates from the name of the pan in the Catalan language. Then the word in turn came from the French " paelle" and this from the Latin "patella. The dish became so popular in the mid 19th century that the name of the dish took the name of the pan that it was cooked in. Today it is considered by the rest of the world as one of Spain's main dishes but Spaniards know that the dish really took off from the Eastern part of Spain.
INGREDIENTS
(For a Paella to feed 6 to 8 people)
6 -1/3 cups of rice (risotto type)
1/4 pound of fresh green beans
2 artichokes ( Cleaned and will use only the tender parts and the heart of it)
4 large cloves of garlic
8 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of paprika
saffron
1 pound of fresh ripe tomatoes diced
12 to 16 jumbo shrimp ( with head and tail)
16 mussels in their shell
Squid, if desired, cut into rings
Salt to taste
Roasted red bell peppers cut into strips
18 - 1/3 cups of water
baby clams if desired
First you will saute the green beans and the artichokes, adding salt to taste so that they have a golden color in the 12 tablespoons of olive oil. When this is complete you will remove them from the paella pan. Second
you will make a tomato sauce by sauteing first the garlic, spices and tomatoes. Make sure to add one 1/3 cup of water to this process as the garlic and paprika burn very easily. Cook till the tomatoes have turned into a nice puree consistency. When this is done you will place the vegetables back in the pan evenly as decorating the pan. Add the whole remaining 17 -1/3 cups of water and let cook till it comes to a boil. When water is boiling add the shrimp, mussels and remaining sea desired placing these evenly throughout the pan. Straight forward add the 6- 1/3 cups of rice evenly spread through the paella pan. Add salt always tasting to make sure you have the right proportion. Decorate with the roasted bells peppers and let cook over a medium low flame for about 20 minutes. Do not stir!!!! After the 20 minutes, turn off the flame and cover with a cloth for another 10 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve!!
