PAELLA, POR FAVOR

From a showstopping shellfish classic to a toothsome sausage fusion, Spanish chef Omar Allibhoy’s one-pan recipes are summer crowd-pleasers

SHELLFISH PAELLA

If I had to choose one style of paella over any other I would go for a shellfish version made with a rich and intense stock. This is a showstopper!

4 20 minutes 40 minutes

★ 2 litres shellfish stock

★ 0.4g saffron (see tip)

★ 120ml extra virgin olive oil

★ 300g squid, cleaned and roughly chopped

★ 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped

★ 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

★ 2 tomatoes, blended to a paste with a blender or food processor

★ 440g Spanish paella rice

★ 250g clams, cleaned

★ 500g prawns, heads and shells removed

★ 500g langoustines

★ salt, to taste

★ Heat the shellfish stock in a saucepan over a low heat and crumble in the saffron. Keep warm over the lowest setting.

★ Heat the olive oil in a paella pan over a high heat. Add the squid to the pan and sauté for about 7 minutes, or until golden in colour. Season with salt. Add the garlic, closely followed by the paprika and the tomato paste. Cook for about 2 minutes until the oil starts to separate from the tomato paste. Add the rice and stir for a couple of minutes, making sure all the rice gets coated with the oil.

★ Add the hot stock to the pan and give it a good stir to distribute the rice evenly. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Cook over a high heat for the first 10 minutes, then over a medium heat for 3 minutes, without stirring. Add the clams, prawns and langoustines, folding them through the rice and shaking the pan to flatten the paella. Cook for 4 minutes, without stirring, then let it rest off the heat for 5 minutes before serving.

TIP If you don’t have a micro scale, 0.4g saffron is equivalent to a large pinch; 0.3g is a medium pinch.

SALMON AND CAULIFLOWER PAELLA

It is rare to see a paella cooked with salmon but as it’s such a popular fish in our home, I decided to try a version with cauliflower – it was sensational. What I will point out is that salmon can easily be overcooked as it dries out quickly, so follow my timings carefully.

4 20 minutes 35 minutes

★ 2 litres fish stock

★ 0.4g saffron (see tip, opposite)

★ 120ml extra virgin olive oil

★ 2 salmon fillets, cut into large pieces

★ 300g cauliflower, broken into florets, core finely chopped

★ 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

★ 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

★ 2 tomatoes, blended to a paste with a blender or food processor

★ 440g Spanish paella rice

★ 1 sprig of rosemary

★ salt, to taste

★ Heat the fish stock in a saucepan over a low heat and crumble in the saffron. Keep warm over the lowest setting.

★ Heat half the olive oil in a paella pan over a medium heat, add the salmon fillets, skin-side down, and shallow-fry for 3 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

★ Add the remaining oil to the pan, then fry the cauliflower florets over a low heat for

4-5 minutes. Season, remove from the pan and set aside.

★ Add the chopped cauliflower core to the pan and sauté for 2 minutes before adding the garlic, paprika and the tomato paste. Cook for about 2 minutes until the oil starts to separate from the tomato paste. Add the rice and stir, making sure all the rice gets coated with the oil.

★ Add the hot stock to the pan and give it a good stir to distribute the rice evenly. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Cook over a high heat for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for another 3 minutes, without stirring. Place the reserved salmon (skin-side up), cauliflower florets and the rosemary on top of the rice and cook for a final 4 minutes. Let it rest off the heat for 5 minutes before serving.

SAUSAGE, RED ONION AND MUSHROOM PAELLA

The beauty of paella is it works with almost every ingredient. As a kid I never used to eat sausages, but since I moved to the UK,

I have discovered just how good they are ‒ even in a paella.

4 20 minutes 40 minutes

★ 2 litres pork stock

★ 0.4g saffron (see tip, page 28)

★ 120ml extra virgin olive oil

★ 400g pork sausages

★ 2 red onions, cut into wedges

★ 150g small mushrooms, whole

★ 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

★ 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

★ 1 tomato, grated

★ 400g Spanish paella rice

★ 175ml red wine

★ a few sprigs of rosemary

★ salt and pepper, to taste

★ Heat the pork stock in a saucepan over a low heat and crumble in the saffron. Keep warm over the lowest setting.

★ Heat the olive oil in a paella pan over a high heat and add the sausages, red onions and mushrooms. Fry for 8 minutes until everything is caramelised, then season with salt.

★ Add the garlic, the paprika and grated tomato, and cook for about 2 minutes until the oil starts to separate from the tomato. Add the rice and stir together for another couple of minutes, making sure all the rice gets coated with the oil. Pour in the red wine and let it bubble for a couple of minutes until it has reduced.

★ Carefully add the hot stock to the pan and give it a good stir to distribute the rice evenly. Season with pepper and add the sprigs of rosemary. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary, then cook over a high heat for 10 minutes before reducing the heat to low and cooking for a further 9 minutes, without stirring. Let it rest off the heat for 5 minutes before eating.

CHICKEN, PEAR AND SMOKED BACON PAELLA

I broke a few rules with this dish and loved the results. It is so delicious and decadent. The pears are cooked in butter and caramelised with sugar ‒ and we all know how good that tastes.

3 30 minutes 45 minutes

★ 2 pears

★ large knob of unsalted butter

★ 3 tbsp caster sugar

★ 1 litre chicken stock

★ 0.3g saffron (see tip, page 28)

★ 90ml extra virgin olive oil

★ 3 chicken thighs on the bone, skin on

★ 100g smoked bacon lardons

★ 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

★ 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

★ 1 tomato, grated

★ 330g Spanish paella rice

★ sprig of rosemary

★ salt and pepper, to taste

★ Start by caramelising the pears. Peel and halve the pears. Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat and fry the pears for about 3 minutes on each side. Sprinkle the sugar over the pears and keep frying them over a high heat for a few minutes, flipping them from time to time until they turn a golden colour. Set aside for later.

★ Heat the chicken stock in a saucepan over the lowest heat and crumble in the saffron.

★ Heat the olive oil in a paella pan over a medium heat and add the chicken, skin-side down first. Fry for about 5 minutes on each side. Add the bacon and fry for a further 5 minutes until all the meats are a roasted golden colour. Add the garlic and the paprika, shortly followed by the grated tomato, and cook for 2 minutes until the oil starts separating from the tomato. Add the rice and stir for a couple of minutes, making sure the rice is coated with the oil.

★ Add the hot stock to the pan and give it a good stir to distribute the rice evenly. Taste the stock and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Cook over a high heat for 10 minutes, then add the pears and the rosemary sprig and cook over a medium-low heat for the last 9 minutes, without stirring. Let it rest off the heat for 5 minutes before eating.