Ingredients
FOR THE STOCK
- 3 tbsp light olive oil
- Prawn shells and heads (see recipe)
- 1 onion, peeled and diced
- 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and diced
- 4 tsp tomato purée
- 3 plum tomatoes, diced
- 1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
- 125ml brandy
- Bunch of thyme sprigs
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 litres water
- Sea salt and freshly ground Pepper
FOR THE PAELLA
- 500g (8 large) raw tiger prawns or langoustines, cleaned
- 3 tbsp good quality light olive oil
- 1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
- 1 each red and green peppers, cored, deseeded and diced
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 250g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- 400g Bomba or Calasparra rice (paella rice)
- 2 small pinches of saffron threads
- 300g fresh mussels, cleaned
- 300g fresh clams, cleaned
TO SERVE
- handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
- 4 tsp good quality extra virgin olive oil
- lemon wedges
Method
1. First, remove the heads and shells from the prawns and save
for the stock. Refrigerate the prawns until you are ready to make
the paella.
2. To make the stock, heat the olive oil in a very large saucepan
or stockpot. Add the prawn heads and shells and cook for 1-2
minutes, breaking them down with a wooden spoon. Add the onion and
fennel and sweat over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes until
starting to caramelise. Add the tomato purée, tomatoes and
paprika and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the brandy, take off
the heat and carefully ignite to burn off the alcohol. Return to
the heat and stir with a wooden spoon to deglaze.
3. Add the thyme, bay leaves and water. Bring to the boil, then
lower the heat. Simmer until reduced almost by half (to about 1.1
litres); this will take about 45 minutes-1 hour. Strain the stock
through a sieve into a jug, season generously with salt and some
pepper and keep to one side.
4.To make the paella, place a 34cm paella pan over a medium heat,
add the olive oil and fry the onion for 2 minutes. Add the peppers
with a pinch of salt and fry for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and fry
for a further 2 minutes. Add the bay leaves and squid and cook,
stirring, for 4 minutes. Add the paprika and cook, stirring, for 2
minutes.
5. Add the rice, mix well and cook for 2 minutes. Add the saffron,
pour in 1 litre of stock, increase the heat and bring back to the
boil. Simmer vigorously for 10 minutes.
6. Add the prawns, placing them in a ring towards the middle of the
pan. Add the mussels and clams, pushing them down into the rice.
Cook for a further 8 minutes. If the paella appears to be drying
out before it is cooked, ladle a little more stock over the rice,
always remembering that you are aiming for a dry (not a soupy)
result. For the last 5 minutes or so, there won't be much stock in
the pan.
7. Take off the heat, cover with foil and leave the paella to rest
in a warm place for 5 minutes. The steam will cook the rice on the
top, which might be a little underdone before resting. Remove the
foil, scatter with parsley and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
Serve at once, with lemon wedges.