This recipe is for a real Valencian seafood paella—without any meat or chicken mixed in.
Ingredients
- 1⁄4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 6 jumbo shrimp, unpeeled
- 12 medium shrimp, unpeeled
- 3 medium tomatoes, seeded and grated
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 large pinch saffron threads
- 1 tbsp. sweet paprika
- 1⁄2 lb. fresh or frozen Italian-style broad green beans, cut in 2'' pieces
- 1 cup dried white beans (such as white lima or butter beans), soaked overnight and drained
- Salt
- 3 cups Spanish paella rice or short-grain Italian rice
- 12 mussels, scrubbed and debearded
Instructions
Step 1
Heat oil in a 16''–18'' paella pan or large skillet over medium heat. Pan will span two burners; rotate pan occasionally for even cooking. Add all shrimp, sauté for 5 minutes, then remove and set aside. Reduce heat to low, add tomatoes and garlic to oil in pan, and cook for 3–5 minutes.
Step 2
Toast saffron in a small skillet over medium heat for 1 minute; crumble into 12 cups water with paprika, then pour into pan. Add all beans, salt to taste, and simmer until reduced by half, about 45 minutes.
Step 3
Stir rice into pan, then add mussels and press down to submerge in liquid as much as possible. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, without stirring, until rice begins to swell, about 10 minutes. (Discard mussels that do not open.)
Step 4
Place shrimp on top of rice, reduce heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover with a clean dish towel, and cool for 20 minutes. Serve from pan at room temperature.
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