KITCHEN: Spanish paella

picture source: www.rezerwacje.net.pl

Be careful – your mouth can water after reading today’s post ;) I’ve found this taste last year in Madrid and this year once again in Barcelona. I love seafood and they are here – but I didn’t know that some kinds of paella are without them! From me it’s not acceptable – it’s not the same with chicken. Of course it’s only my opinion – prawns, prawns and many other seafood. The best are fresh but unfortunately Poland is not on the Mediterranean Sea – it’s a pity! Nevertheless we can find all products in our shops without any problems. Of course I’ve made some modifications ;) but wait a moment.

It is thought that paella comes from Valencia and was eaten only by the workers, after a hard day's work. Today paella has its own place even in restaurants. Its name comes from the Latin word patella, which means a metal dish, used to give the glory for the gods by the Romans. Till today such kind of dish is used to serve paella – it should be also eaten from it. A popular kind is the Paella Valenciana, containing seafood, peas and rabbit meat or poultry. Paella Mariner contains mainly mussels, squids and prawns. The second one is in my type – as I mentioned earlier. So I invite you for a short trip kitchen trip to the south of Europe, and a few words about the ingredients and preparation.

My version of paella (found in the Internet and very easy) – ingredients:

300 g of rice (the best are Bomba, Senia or Arborio)

200 g of sausage (the best is original – I don’t like it so changed it)

250 g of prawns

250 g seafood (clams, squids)

1 red pepper

6 cloves of garlic

1 onion

400 g tomatoes

1 lemon

600 ml vegetable broth

oil

parsley

pepper

Additionally:

A pinch of saffron or squid ink to color the rice – for yellow or black (my favourite version :))

Preparing:

1. Dice sausage and put it on the hot oil, fry for about 10 minutes. Dice pepper and onion and chop the garlic cloves and add to the pan. Fry next 10 minutes.

2. Add the rice – fry it until it becomes transparent. Then pour the broth and season to taste with pepper. Boil for 20 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes and seafood. Simmer till the rice will absorb all the liquid. According to the principles of Spanish cuisine, the dish shouldn’t be mixed during preparing. However, not having access to a special dish, it is worth to mix it from time to time.

4. After preparing paella should get cold for a few minutes. Serve with parsley and cut lemon.

I don’t know how you feel but I’m really hungry ;) Bon apetit!

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