Spanish Cuisine
Paella Valenciana
The original paella. Rabbit, chicken, and beans cooked with saffron rice in a wide shallow pan, finished with a crisp socarrat crust.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
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History & Origin
Paella was born in the rice paddies around the Albufera lagoon, just south of Valencia. Farm labourers cooked lunch over open orange-wood fires in a wide, shallow pan (the "paella" itself, from the Latin patella), using whatever the land offered: rabbit, snails, flat green beans, and the round-grain rice the Moors had introduced to the region centuries earlier. Saffron turned the rice gold and made it food for occasions.
The seafood versions known around the world came later, from the coast. Valencians still defend the original: an authentic paella valenciana contains no chorizo, no peas, and certainly no seafood. It is traditionally eaten at midday, outdoors, directly from the pan.
Personal
Example personal note. Replace with your own. Last time I made this I used chicken only (no rabbit) and it was still excellent. The 40 cm pan needs two burners on my stove; rotate at the halfway mark.
Next attempt: try it on the grill outside with orange wood chips.
Ingredients & Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a 40–46 cm paella pan over medium-high heat. Season the chicken and rabbit with salt, then brown them slowly and thoroughly on all sides; this builds the base flavour. Take your time; 15 minutes is not too long.
- Push the meat to the edges of the pan. Add the green beans and butter beans to the centre and fry for 3–4 minutes.
- Add the grated tomato and paprika, and cook until the tomato darkens and thickens, about 5 minutes. Do not let the paprika burn.
Example inline step photo. Swap for a real one or delete these two lines. - Pour in the hot stock, add the saffron, and simmer everything together for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt; the broth should be slightly saltier than you want the finished rice.
- Scatter the rice evenly across the pan in a cross pattern. Once it's in, don't stir again.
- Cook on high heat for 10 minutes, then reduce to low for another 8–10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
- Lay the rosemary on top in the final minutes. For the prized socarrat, raise the heat to high for 60–90 seconds at the very end. Listen for a faint crackle, and pull it off before it smells scorched.
- Rest the paella off the heat, covered loosely with a clean towel, for 5 minutes before serving straight from the pan.
Notes
Bomba rice matters here: it absorbs three times its volume in stock without turning mushy. If you can't find it, Calasparra or even arborio will do, but reduce the stock slightly.
If your burner is smaller than the pan, rotate the pan every few minutes so the rice cooks evenly. Better yet, cook it outdoors over a wood fire the way Valencians do.