Easy Seafood Paella

Celebrate the beautiful bounty of the sea with this aromatic saffron infused Easy Seafood Paella that is the ultimate one dish meal. This vibrant and savory meal is perfect for entertaining with, yet simple enough to make any night of the week a true occasion.

Is there anything than skipping plates and diving into a fully loaded skillet like Caribbean Shrimp Scampi? Paella de marisco combines pantry staples like rice and canned fire-roasted tomatoes with easily accessible seafood like shrimp, mussels, and clams. Smoked paprika and floral, earthy saffron give the rice a heady perfume and rich flavor that will have you diving in for seconds. It’s a dish that will instantly wow your friends and family yet is easy enough for anyone to make.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Simple Process – If you hate cooking rice, this is the rice recipe for you. Once the rice is added to your base flavor ingredients, you stir it and just leave it alone uncovered. It gives the rice the chance to absorb the liquid while developing that crispy crust that makes paella crave worthy. Once the rice is almost cooked is when you add the seafood on top and then cover. This allows the seafood to gently steam without overcooking and becoming tough.
• Texture – One of the key features of Spanish seafood paella is the crispy, slightly crunchy bottom called socarrat. This dish gives you all the textures, tender rice, soft peas, snappy shrimp, and the crispy bits we all crave.
• Perfect to entertain with – If you are looking for a dish that requires minimal work and can feed a crowd, this is it. If you have a large enough pan you can easily double up on this recipe but as it’s written it easily feeds 6.

What is Paella?

Paella is a dish that I grew up with. It was always made with chicken and shrimp, and sometimes my mom would throw in the addition of mussels. There was something that was always special about that sunny yellow rice and the way the saffron perfumed the entire house. Even with the addition of saffron it was a budget friendly dish that we would enjoy for several days.

Paella is one of the most well-known Spanish dishes and comes from the Valencian Community. There are numerous versions with paella valenciana most likely being the original recipe. Paella valenciana combines a short grain rice with rabbit, chicken, sometimes duck, beans such as butter beans, and green beans. It also gets its name from the very pan which it’s cooked in, traditionally over an open fire fueled by orange and pine branches and pinecones.

Other types of paella include paella de marisco which replaces all of the meat with seafood and leaves out the beans. You’ll find all types of seafood from shrimp, mussels, and clams such as this version to cuttlefish, squid, lobster, and fish.

Paella mixta combines the best of both versions bringing the land and the sea together. Chicken, sausage, and seafood are combined with vegetables. This has quickly grown to become the most popular version of paella.

Main Ingredients

• Short Grained Rice – The rice that you use to make your seafood paella is as important as the seafood itself. Bomba rice is the traditional rice for paella, but you will often find it labeled as Valencia rice or paella rice. You can find this at your local grocery store, and also online. This short grained rice easily absorbs liquid and remains compact but becomes tender as it cooks.
• Spices – Saffron not only gives the rice its trademark canary color but also gives an incredible depth of flavor and aroma. It’s lightly floral and earthy. Smoked paprika gives that mysterious kiss of smoke and echos the flavor of traditional Spanish seafood paella cooked over a wood fire. Dried thyme adds a slightly citrusy note and holds up to the cooking while a pinch of cayenne gives a small back note of heat.

• Seafood – Clams and mussels add a tender bite to this shrimp and sausage paella while also giving even more flavor to the rice with their brine. Shrimp adds a sweet, snappy bite. You can also customize this to your favorite seafood. Not a fan of mussels? Add more shrimp or clams. Want to add lobster? Go for it.
• Aromatics – Onions, garlic, and red bell pepper add the first layer of flavor.
• White Wine – Seafood and wine just go together. It adds a light, bright, acidic note.
• Stock/Broth – Chicken, seafood, or even vegetable stock or broth work for this recipe. You can even take the shells from your shrimp and simmer them with boxed stock to add an additional element of the sea.
• Fire Roasted Tomatoes – This is not a traditional ingredient but adds a ton of flavor. Many recipes call for diced or grated fresh tomatoes. This makes this recipe easy to make year-round while adding another layer of fire.
• Chorizo – This ingredient is completely optional but adds a nice layer of spice and fat. Spanish style chorizo which is already cooked and lightly smoked is best, but if all you have access to is the fresh Mexican style chorizo that will also add incredible flavor.

How to Make Easy Seafood Paella

• Prep your seafood. For the mussels, give them a light scrub and rinse them off. If they have a beard, use your thumb and forefinger to firmly pull down towards the hinge. If your shrimp are shell on, it is up to you whether or not you want to cook them in the shell. It will add more flavor, but peeling them will make it easier for your friends and family to eat. If you peel them, leave the tail on for presentation. Either way use a sharp paring knife to cut them down the middle and remove the vein. Give them a quick rinse. The clams require the most prep but are still easy. Give them a thorough rinse and add them to a bowl of cool water. Let them soak for 20-30 minutes. Halfway through transfer the clams to a strainer and give them a quick rinse. Drain the water and refill with fresh water and allow the clams to soak for another 10-15 minutes. They’ll release sand as they breath and the sand will sink to the bottom of the bowl. You don’t want to drain the water and clams at the same time as you’ll just add the sand back on them.
• Bloom your saffron. Crush the saffron between your fingers and add it to a small bowl along with two tablespoons of hot water. Let it steep until ready to use.

• Heat your skillet over medium heat. If making this on a charcoal grill you’ll want to set up for two-zone cooking so you can move your pan over to a cooler side if needed. Add your olive oil and allow it to heat. If using, add your chorizo, allowing it to brown for 3-4 minutes and render its fat. Remove from the pan.
• Add the onion and red bell pepper. Let it sauté for 3-5 minutes until tender and fragrent.
• Next add garlic and spices. Let them cook for 1 minute to wake them up and bring out their oils.
• Deglaze with wine. Add the wine into the skillet making sure to scrape up and brown bits. Allow it to come to a simmer.
• Toast your rice. Add the rice to the skillet and give it a stir. Allow it to cook for 1 minute. Add the saffron and water and stir to combine.

• Add the remaining liquid. Pour in the canned tomatoes with their juices and the broth along with the chorizo if adding. Give it a good stir.
• Let it be! Allow the rice to come to a simmer and let it cook for 15-20 minutes until it’s almost cooked through. Do not cover it and do not stir it at all during this time. This allows the rice to absorb the liquid while creating that crispy crust. If your rice starts looking a little too dry too quickly drizzle a little additional broth over the top.
• Stir in the peas. Lower the heat to medium-low.
• Add your seafood. Arrange the seafood on top of the rice. Make sure to place the clams and mussels hinge side down so they can easily open. Cover the pan with a lid. baking sheet, or piece of foil. Let it cook for 10-12 minutes or until the shrimp is cooked through and 120 degrees and the clams and mussels have opened. If you have and clams or mussels that didn’t open discard them.

• Garnish the shrimp and clam paella. Sprinkle fresh parsley over the top. Arrange strips of roasted red peppers over the top if adding and serve with lemon wedges.

Equipment

Spanish paella is traditionally made in a paella pan. Unless it’s something you make regularly there’s no need to invest in one. You will need a large skillet. I like using a cast iron pan or cast enamel pan for this as it can handle high heat, conducts heat evenly, and helps form the crispy bottom. The larger the diameter, the better but you want it to be at least 12″.

How to Store Live Clams & Mussels

Live clams and mussels are best for this recipe. You can use frozen, but they usually come already cooked and the texture won’t be quite the same. You can purchase you clams and mussels up to 24 hours in advance. When you get them home remove them from the bag that they came in and give them a quick rinse in cool water. Transfer them to large bowls and lightly cover them with damp paper towel. This will allow them to still breathe. Keep them refrigerated on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator as that is the coldest part. Do not store your clams and mussels in water. This will actually kill them.

You may notice that some of your clams and mussels are open. Give their shell a light tap. If they close, they’re still alive and healthy. If they remain open toss them out.

Tips From the Beach

• Know your seafood source. If you are lucky enough to live in a city with either a great seafood market or a store with a well-stocked seafood market, utilize it. Seafood is fully the star of this dish and you want to ensure it’s the best quality. All of my seafood for this recipe was sourced from Lombardi’s Seafood.
• When positioning your seafood, place the clams and mussels hinge side down and don’t over crowd them. This will allow them to open easily.
• It might be tempting to stir your rice while it’s cooking. Don’t. If it seems like it’s getting too hot, either slightly turn your burner down or move it over to the cooler portion of the grill. There is flavor in textures and part of what makes paella so good is the crispy crust. Leaving it uncovered and not disturbing the rice helps develop this.
• If your rice seems to be drying out and is still a little too crunchy, just drizzle additional broth over the top. Start with a quarte cup and add from there. But do not stir it.
• Prep your seafood earlier in the day to make this come together even faster.
• Save those shrimp shells! You can either freeze them for later use to make shrimp stock or add them to storebought stock and simmer it together to infuse even more seafood flavor into it for this dish.

Looking for more one skillet meals? Make sure to check out Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp Scampi. And for more shellfish recipes Grilled Clam Dip is always an instant hit.

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