Uncle Alberto's Paella recipe

Paella is best cooked in a purpose made Paellera (Paella Pan), as the combination of the shallow pan and broad cooking surface make the cooking easy. A traditional Paella is a shared meal, which makes it ideal for communal dining. Paella can be cooked as a vegetarian dish, or with seafood or any combination of meat or game. My personal favourite is a combination of Seafood and meat.

The Best Paella that I have tasted comes from my Uncle Alberto, who is an amazing cook. Tio Alberto was born in Spain and spent time in Spanish Morocco before moving to Australia. Alberto is a fantastic cook and brings to the table influences of Spain, North Africa and of course Australia.   

Ingredients

Depending on the size of the Paellera (small, medium or large Paellera), you will need as a base. Adjust all quantities if using a small, medium or large Paellera:

1. Spanish Paella rice quantities vary based on the size of your Paellera. Cooking with Spanish Paella rice does make a difference, so it is worth hunting down the genuine Spanish Paella rice. I get mine and most of my ingredients from Con's Continental Deli in Glenbrook in the Lower Blue Mountains. Quantities: 
1. Small Paellera (32cm diameter) - 2 cups of Paella rice (4-6 people)
2. Medium Paellera (40cm diameter) - 3/4 cups of Paella rice (7-10 people)
3. Large Paellera (55cm diameter) - 6 cups of Paella rice (10+ people)
2. Cooking stock - Small = 3 litres, Medium = 5 litres, and Large = 7 litres. Stock should support the type of Paella you are cooking - vegetable stock for vegetarian, seafood/fish stock for seafood, chicken for chicken and chorizo  
3. 1 x red capsicum (chopped into large cubes of 2cm x 2cm)
4. 1 x green capsicum (chopped into large cubes of 2cm x 2cm)
5. 2 x Spanish onions (chopped into large cubes of 2cm x 2cm)
6. 4-6 x cloves of fresh garlic (Each clove quartered or halved if small)
7. Herbs:
   1. 2 x tablespoons of freshly ground Cumin seeds
   2. 12 x fresh sprigs of Thyme
   3. 2-3 x fresh Bay leaves
   4. 1 x tablespoon of fresh ground cracked pepper
   5. 8-12 strands of good quality Saffron (blanch strands in the warmed stock). Alternatively, add 2 x teaspoons of Colorante if the Saffron is not providing that vibrant paella colour 
8. 1 x large can of tomatoes (or two 440g tins)
9. 2 x cups of frozen peas

Meat Paella – Add:

10. 4 x chicken thigh fillets, roughly chopped (3 to 4 cm cubes). A cheat here is to simply buy a roast chicken and 
11. 3 x pork medallions, roughly chopped (3 to 4 cm cubes)
12. 2 x fresh Chorizo sausages (3cm lengths)

Game Paella – Add anything you like (rabbit, pheasant, duck, venison, snails)

Seafood - Depending upon your number of guests, you can pretty much add anything you like, including pippies, cockles, razor clams, lobster, bugs. The following is a good start:

13. 1 Kg of fresh Mussels
14. 750g – 1 Kg of fresh green prawns
15. 1 fresh calamari (sliced into small rings, and roughly slice the tentacles) or 2 fresh calamari tubes (sliced into rings). Briefly pan fry and reserve.
16. Any combination of 3cm cubed fish you like (Cod, Ling, Salmon, Basa, Monkfish, Barramundi)

Combinations – You can use items 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, and 16 together for a combination (seafood and meat) Paella. However Note: If you are cooking a seafood or combination Paella, it is best to leave out the Chorizo, as this will overpower the seafood.

Preparation

It is essential to prepare all ingredients ahead of time and have them ready to add to the recipe at the right time. If you try and prepare whilst you cook, you will get into trouble. To prepare the stock for a Seafood or combination Paella, start with 6-8 litres of boiling water. Drop in the mussels until they open. Discard any mussels that don’t open and reserve the rest. Next add the green prawns until they cook. Reserve the prawns with the mussels and keep a lid on the stock to stay warm. You can use cold stock, but this will impact the cooking time.

A good solid base of coals is necessary if you want to cook on a Weber (my recommendation and preference). Prepare the coals and let sit for about 20 -30 minutes, depending on the type of briquettes being use. Briquettes will vary, so you may need to experiment a little here. You want briquettes that provide a low, slow heat release that will last about 40 minutes to an hour. 

Cooking time varies, I judge my Paella by the 3 beers it takes me to cook. Enjoy!

Method (Combination Paella)

1. Heat the Paellera and cover the bottom of the dish with loads of olive oil. Add the garlic and fry rapidly. The purpose of this step is to flavour the oil, so those with no great love for garlic, remove the garlic at this point. If you are like me and the wife isn’t watching, push it to the side of the pan so that it doesn’t burn.
2. Add the meat and let it brown.
3. Add the onion and capsicum until slightly softened
4. Next add the herbs and mix well this should cover all the ingredients and soak up some of the meat oils.
5. As soon as the herbs are well mixed, add the tomatoes and create a thick soup like consistency. Add the Saffron and saffron water at this stage.
6. As soon as these items are mixed well, add the rice in one go. Attempt to cover all grains of the rice and let it absorb as much of the liquid and oil from the meat juices as possible.
7. Once the rice is covered, start adding the stock. Do this little by little, and not in one big go. The aim of this step is to get the rice to absorb the stock and the flavours whilst cooking. This is the longest part of the cooking process, and lasts about 12-20 minutes depending upon the heat levels.
8. When applying your last amount of stock to the dish, add the fish, calamari and peas and mix well.
9. Once absorbed, and the rice is cooked (keep testing the rice as you go), arrange the prawns and mussels on top of the rice, Place the weber lid over the Paellera and close all of the Weber vents to starve the fire of oxygen. Leave for 8 minutes, but keep an eye on the cooking, you want a layer of toasted rice at the bottom of the pan, called socarrat, but don’t want it to burn.
10. Next remove from the heat and let it sit under the Weber lid for 10 minutes. Place on the table and serve with lemon wedges and heaps of cracked pepper.