Paella originated in Valencia , Spain as a one-pan peasant dish made with a little bit of everything that was on hand. Fresh seafood, saffron and earthy paprika are the key ingredients in this traditional Spanish dish.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (125ml) dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
- 1 red capsicum, seeded, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 large ripe tomato, halved, seeded, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons mild Spanish paprika
- 1 cup (200g) medium grain rice (such as calrose)
- 2 cups (500ml) Massel chicken style liquid stock
- 12 (about 1kg) green king prawns, peeled, cleaned leaving heads and tails intact
- 2 squid hoods, cleaned, cut into 1cm-thick rings
- 12 (about 1kg) black mussels, scrubbed, debearded
- 1kg clams
- 1 cup (150g) frozen peas
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Lemon wedges, to serve
Method
- Step 1Combine wine and saffron in a pan over low heat and bring to a simmer. Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the saffron to infuse.
- Step 2Heat the oil in a large paella or large frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, capsicum and garlic and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until onion softens.
- Step 3Add the tomato and paprika and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add the rice, stock and wine mixture and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until rice is almost tender.
- Step 4Add prawns, squid, mussels and clams and push lightly into the rice mixture. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Sprinkle over the peas and cook, covered, for a further 2-3 minutes or until prawns change colour and mussels and clams open.
- Step 5Remove from heat. Discard any unopened mussels and clams. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
- High protein
- Low carb
- Lower gi
Nutrition
2706 kj
Energy
11g
Fat Total
2g
Saturated Fat
84g
Protein
1835.01mg
Sodium
47g
Carbs (total)
Notes
Cooking tips: Traditionally prepared in an iron paella pan, this dish needs to be cooked on a large, flat base, as the ingredients need to be in a single layer to cook evenly. Paella is made with a medium grain rice such as Calasparra or calrose. Arborio rice can be used as an alternative. For a variation of this dish, replace the seafood with diced chicken thighs and sliced chorizo sausage. Cook in batches at the beginning of step 2 and set aside. Return to the pan in step 4.
Low FODMAP diet tip: Make this a Low FODMAP recipe by omitting onion and garlic. You can however use garlic greens. If these can’t be purchased cook the whole garlic clove in the oil being used for the meal then remove it before cooking your food in the garlic flavoured oil.
- Author: Sarah Hobbs
- Image credit: Ben Dearnley
- Publication: Notebook: