Spanish Seafood Paella Valenciana
This celebrated Spanish rice dish is cooked in a wide flat pan and features a rich sofrito base with saffron-tinted bomba rice loaded with shrimp, mussels, and squid. It is famous for the socorrat, a toasted caramelized rice layer that forms at the bottom of the pan.
Saffron-golden bomba rice packed with fresh seafood and topped with a caramelized socorrat crust.
Nutrition per serving
Ingredients
base
protein
liquid
spice
aromatics
Instructions
Make the Sofrito
Heat olive oil in a wide paella pan or large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute then add the crushed tomatoes. Cook the sofrito down for 8 to 10 minutes until it darkens and becomes paste-like.
Toast the Rice
Add the bomba rice directly to the sofrito and stir to coat every grain with the tomato mixture. Toast the rice for 2 minutes while stirring continuously until the edges of the grains appear slightly translucent.
Add Stock and Saffron
Bloom the saffron in a small cup of warm stock then pour all the stock including the saffron into the pan. Stir once to distribute everything evenly, then do not stir again. Cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes until the liquid begins to reduce.
Add Seafood and Form Socorrat
Nestle the seafood into the rice pushing the mussels in hinge-side down. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for another 15 to 18 minutes until the rice is tender and all mussels have opened. Increase heat to high for the final 2 minutes to form the socorrat crust. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Substitutions
Common mistakes
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