T.W.O. spent last summer traveling around Spain and had some amazing paella.  Each city was different – from Madrid to San Sebastian to Barcelona and Sevilla – there was a spin on each dish.  Today we are featuring some of our favorite ingredients in a seafood paella.  It’s an great dish full of flavor, protein and culture – – when in España!

Seafood Paella

Ingredients:
– 1 tomato, diced
– ½ cup white wine
– ½ red onion, chopped
– 1 sweet onion, chopped
– 1 pound fresh rock fish
– 2 lbs fresh seafood miz (mussels, calamari, shrimp)
– ¼ cup olive oil
– 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
– 2 cup Arborio rice or bomba paella rice
– 2 teaspoon Spanish saffron threads
– 4 cups low sodium chicken stock
– 1 cup frozen peas
– 1 can artichoke hearts
– ½ cup lemon juice
– 2 cloves garlic
– 1 teaspoon sea salt
– ½ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
– 1 teaspoon Spanish pimento smoked paprika

Directions:
1. Heat the wine and ½ red onion and ½ sweet onion in a saucepan over high heat until it begins to bubble. Add the mussels and cover and cook for five minutes.
2 Remove from the heat; throw away any unopened mussels, and drain, reserving the liquid to use later in the recipe.
3. Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan (great if you have a paella pan.) Add the extra onion and garlic. Cook for five minutes, or until onions have softened.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, artichokes, smoky paprika & cayenne pepper. Season with sea salt and pepper. Mix well.
5. Stir in the reserved liquid from the mussels, then add the rice and stir again. In a separate bowl, blend the saffron with the stock and stir into the rice mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes without stirring.
6. Put the peas, seafood mixture and rock fish on top of the rice. Push them into the rice, cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, turning over halfway through, until the rice is cooked. Add the mussels & lemon juice for the last 5 minutes to heat through. If the rice is not cooked, add extra stock and cook for a few more minutes.
7. Allow to rest for 5 minutes prior to serving.

¡Buen provecho!