Spanish Paella Dish - yum

PAELLA Serves 10 Preparation: 20 mins Cooking: 40 mins
The traditional pan for this recipe is shallow and wide. If you don’t have a paella pan or a large enough frying pan, use 2 smaller frying pans as the mixture should only be about 4cm deep.
Ingredients 1kilo clams 1 tablespoon coarse salt 600g medium uncooked prawns 1 kilo small black mussels 4 tablespoons olive oil from Spain 7 cups (1750ml) chicken or fish stock 1 large pinch saffron threads from Spain 4 (440g) chicken thigh fillets, chopped coarsely 400g chorizo sausage, sliced 2 large (600g) red onion, chopped 2 medium (400g) red capsicum, chopped 4 cloves garlic, crushed 4 teaspoons smoked or sweet paprika from Spain 4 medium (720g) tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped finely 3 cups (600g) Calasparra (or Calrose or short grain) rice 2 cups (250g) peas 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
			This month’s feature recipe comes from: Balance - Matching Food and Wine – What Works and Why by Lyndey Milan and Colin Corney. Published by Hachette Australian, H/B $35 AUD
To prepare the seafood Rinse the clams under cold water and place them in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the salt, cover with cold water and soak for 2 hours to purge them of any grit. Drain and rinse. Shell and devein the prawns, leaving the tails intact. Reserve the shells; scrub the mussels. To make the stock Brown prawn shells in 1 tablespoon of olive oil from Spain in a large saucepan. Pour in chicken or fish stock, bring to the boil and simmer 20 minutes. Strain, add saffron and set aside till needed. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in paella pan, add the chicken and cook until browned. Remove the chicken from the pan. Add the chorizo to the same pan and cook until browned; drain the chorizo on absorbent paper. To make the sofrito (or picada, the key to a great paella) Add the final 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan; add the onion, capsicum, garlic, paprika and tomatoes to the same pan and cook, stirring, until soft. Add the rice and stir until it is coated in oil. Return the chicken and chorizo to the pan. Add the stock and saffron mixture and stir only until combined. Do not stir again. Bring to the boil then simmer, uncovered, for about 12 minutes or until the rice is almost tender. Sprinkle the peas over the rice and simmer, uncovered, for a further three minutes. Place the clams, mussels and prawns over the rice mixture. Cover the pan with a large piece of foil and simmer, covered, for about five minutes or until the clams and mussels have opened and the prawns are just cooked through. Discard any shells that don’t open. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately. Paella, exotic, colourful, easy and absolutely delicious! Note: I got this from an e-newsletter from Olive Oil From Spain