Marias Paella Recipes

MARIA'S PAELLA

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a very large skillet or paella pan over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Place chicken thighs skin-side down into oil and sear until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes; set aside.
• Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 1 minute. Add green and red bell peppers, calamari, and small shrimp; cook for 2 minutes more.
• Stir in salt, saffron, tomatoes, peas, rice, and water until well combined. Add chicken thighs, and simmer for 15 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to make sure rice does not stick.
• Decoratively nestle clams and jumbo shrimp into the rice. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Place the scallops into the paella, recover, and continue simmering until the rice is tender and the scallops firm and opaque, about 5 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges to serve.

MEXICAN PAELLA

Steps:

• Place chicken broth and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a medium saucepan. Cover and heat over low heat.
• Over a low gas flame or under the broiler, roast poblano pepper, turning frequently, until charred, about 5 minutes over flame or 10 minutes under broiler. Remove from heat and cover with a clean kitchen towel until cool enough to handle. Rub off charred skin using a paper towel; remove stem and seeds. Rinse pepper and pat dry; cut into 1/2-inch strips; set aside.
• Place tomatoes and their juices in the jar of a blender. Blend until smooth; set aside.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat olive oil in a 12-inch paella pan over medium-high heat. Season skin side of chicken thighs with salt and place skin-side down in pan; season with salt. Cook until skin is deep golden, about 10 minutes. Turn and cook until chicken is browned and juices run clear, about 10 minutes more. Transfer chicken to a large rimmed baking sheet and set aside.
• Reduce heat to medium and add onion and chorizo. Cook, stirring, until chorizo is cooked through and onion begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add reserved poblano pepper and tomato puree. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and oil begins to separate from mixture, about 5 minutes.
• Add rice to pan and cook, stirring, until rice turns milky white in color, 4 to 5 minutes. Add heated chicken broth and stir to combine. Cook, without stirring, until rice has absorbed most of the liquid and is almost cooked through, about 12 minutes.
• Return chicken to pan and nestle into the center of the rice. Arrange shrimp in a ring around the chicken and the mussels in the rice at the edge of the pan. Cover the pan with a piece of parchment paper-lined aluminum foil; transfer to oven and bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove paella from oven and stir in peas, parsley, and tequila, if desired. Using a large serving spoon, gently fluff mussels and shrimp into rice mixture. Re-cover and let stand for 10 minutes until rice and shellfish are cooked through. Serve immediately.

MARIO BATALI'S PAELLA

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 400°. Place the drumsticks on a baking sheet and season all over with salt and extra-virgin olive oil. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes and set aside.
• In the meantime, heat a 14- to 18-inch paella pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and heat until smoking. Add the shrimp and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add the onion to the pan and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Push the onions into the center of the pan and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the salt around the edges of the pan.
• Add the tomato puree, stirring it into the onions, and cook for 3 minutes. Add the remaining salt, the saffron, pimentón and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir well to distribute it evenly. Add clams, drumsticks, arranging them nicely throughout the pan. Then add the peas and asparagus and bring the stock back to a boil, and cook, without stirring, for 10 minutes. Taste for salt and add it if needed, then cook, again without stirring, for 10 more minutes, or until the liquid is almost completely absorbed and the pan starts to make a crackling noise (don't worry, this is what you want).
• Remove from the heat and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

MARIA'S PAELLA

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a very large skillet or paella pan over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Place chicken thighs skin-side down into oil and sear until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes; set aside.
• Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 1 minute. Add green and red bell peppers, calamari, and small shrimp; cook for 2 minutes more.
• Stir in salt, saffron, tomatoes, peas, rice, and water until well combined. Add chicken thighs, and simmer for 15 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to make sure rice does not stick.
• Decoratively nestle clams and jumbo shrimp into the rice. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Place the scallops into the paella, recover, and continue simmering until the rice is tender and the scallops firm and opaque, about 5 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges to serve.

MARIA'S PAELLA

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a very large skillet or paella pan over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Place chicken thighs skin-side down into oil and sear until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes; set aside.
• Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 1 minute. Add green and red bell peppers, calamari, and small shrimp; cook for 2 minutes more.
• Stir in salt, saffron, tomatoes, peas, rice, and water until well combined. Add chicken thighs, and simmer for 15 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to make sure rice does not stick.
• Decoratively nestle clams and jumbo shrimp into the rice. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Place the scallops into the paella, recover, and continue simmering until the rice is tender and the scallops firm and opaque, about 5 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges to serve.

MARIA'S PAELLA

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a very large skillet or paella pan over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Place chicken thighs skin-side down into oil and sear until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes; set aside.
• Stir in onion and garlic, and cook until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 1 minute. Add green and red bell peppers, calamari, and small shrimp; cook for 2 minutes more.
• Stir in salt, saffron, tomatoes, peas, rice, and water until well combined. Add chicken thighs, and simmer for 15 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to make sure rice does not stick.
• Decoratively nestle clams and jumbo shrimp into the rice. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Place the scallops into the paella, recover, and continue simmering until the rice is tender and the scallops firm and opaque, about 5 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges to serve.

MARIA'S PAELLA

Steps:

• Steam clams and mussels in boiling water until they open.
• Reserve cooking water.
• cook lobster; reserve water.
• Heat olive oil in very large skillet and saute onion and garlic.
• Follow the recipe on the box of the rice mixture, but substitute the seafood cooking water.
• Place shrimp on top of the rice.
• When the rice is almost done, integrate the other seafood into the rice.

PAELLA DE MARISCOS

Steps:

• Make the sofrito. Heat a 12-inch paella pan over medium-high heat. Add 3 Tbsps. oil, then the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the grated tomatoes and cook, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes have lost most of their moisture and the sofrito is reduced to about one-fourth cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and place the sofrito in a small bowl. Wipe the pan.
• Return the pan to medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the remaining oil, then the cod and squid. Sear the fish, stirring frequently, about 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium and add the sofrito back to the pan. Cook, stirring the sofrito with the fish to blend the flavors, for 3 minutes. Add the wine, stirring to remove any bits of flavoring from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the wine is reduced by half, about 1 minute.
• Stir in the fish broth, then add the saffron and bay leaf. Season with the salt; the broth will be a bit salty at first, but will even out as the rice cooks.
• Spread the rice evenly in the pan. The rice should be completely submerged; if not, add more broth to the pan. Do not stir the rice. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Arrange the mussels and shrimp over the rice and continue to cook, being careful not to break the film that forms on the surface of the rice or the rice will not cook evenly. Rotate the pan as needed so the paella cooks evenly. Cook until the liquid is mostly absorbed by the rice, the shrimp are firm and opaque and the mussels have opened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Cover the pan loosely with paper towels and rest for at least 5 minutes before serving at warm room temperature. The paella can remain at room temperature for up to 2 hours, covered, before serving.