Paella de Marisco (Seafood Paella)

Ingredients

• 500g raw prawns, shell-on
• 1L fish stock
• 1/2 tsp saffron threads
• 60ml olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 ripe tomatoes, grated (skins discarded)
• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• 400g bomba or other short-grain paella rice
• 500g mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 300g squid, cleaned and sliced into rings
• 100g frozen peas
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• Chopped parsley, for serving
• Salt to taste

Before you cook

• Peel the prawns, reserving the shells and heads, and keep the prawns chilled.
• Simmer the prawn shells and heads in the fish stock for 15 minutes, then strain and discard the shells.
• Warm a small ladleful of the strained stock and steep the saffron in it.
• Grate the tomatoes on the coarse side of a box grater, discarding the skins.
• Scrub and debeard the mussels, discarding any that stay open when tapped.

Steps

1. Heat the olive oil in a 38-40cm paella pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the squid and cook for 2 minutes until lightly golden, then lift it onto a plate.
3. Add the onion and pepper to the pan and cook for 6 minutes, stirring, until softened.
4. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
5. Add the grated tomato and smoked paprika and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the mixture darkens and thickens into a paste.
6. Scatter the rice evenly across the pan and stir once to coat every grain in the sofrito.
7. Pour in the hot fish stock evenly across the pan and do not stir again from this point.
8. Stir in the saffron and its soaking liquid.
9. Return the squid to the pan, spreading it evenly, and simmer uncovered over medium heat for 10 minutes.
10. Push the mussels hinge-down into the rice and scatter the peas over the top.
11. Cook for 5 more minutes without stirring, until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
12. Arrange the prawns over the surface and cook for 5 minutes, until the rice at the edges is tender and the prawns are pink.
13. Turn the heat up to high for the final 1 to 2 minutes to crisp the rice on the bottom into a crust.
14. Take the pan off the heat, discard any mussels that did not open, cover loosely with foil and rest for 5 minutes.
15. Scatter with parsley and serve straight from the pan with lemon wedges.