I have to cook the paella today so the squid doesnt go off, so this is how I make paella.
(For meat paellas, boil the chicken etc first until cooked, with chopped veg, also to make a stock. Then chop up the meat, and brown it in a frying pan, and add to pan later when you add the rice. Same if you are doing a veggie paella, but don't boil the veg first.)
Serves about 4:
Use a big, wide pan over your widest ring. Fry the seafood lightly til it colours, set aside.
Make the sofrito (the basis of lots of Spanish cooking) - over a low heat using plenty of olive oil and two generous pinches of salt, fry a large chopped onion, 2-3 chopped skinned/deseeded large tomatoes, and 3 sliced garlic cloves, for 10-15 mins until all mushy and soft. Don't let it burn/colour.
Add 1tsp paprika, then 350g paella or arborio rice (not longrain/basmati). Fry and stir all for 2 mins. Then add good quality fish stock (3x the amount of rice used), some saffron and some peas if you like.
Shake pan so all is even. Do not stir or cover. Simmer on low heat til the rice is cooked and soft and the stock gone. (While cooking top up with more stock if necessary, shake the pan and move the rice around gently to cook evenly, but do not stir.)
A few mins before before rice is completely cooked, add the seafood to the top of the rice so it heats through.
Squeeze lemon juice on top, leave to rest for 5-10 mins.
Serve with lemon wedges and garlic mayonnaise.
The burnt caramelized bits of rice on the bottom of the pan are called socarrat in the Valencian language and highly prized, so tell anyone who gets any burnt bits they are lucky!