INGREDIENTS
4 – 5 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chili flakes
pinch saffron
2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1⁄2 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3⁄4 pounds Spanish chorizo, 3⁄4 inch dice
1 cup carrots, about 3 carrots, 1⁄2 inch dice
1 1⁄2 cups onions, about 1 onion, 1⁄2 inch dice
1 cup white wine
3 cups paella rice
2 pounds clams, scrubbed
1 1⁄2 pounds shrimp, 16 – 20, shelled and deveined, reserve shells for stock
2 cups chopped roma tomatoes, (1 cup good quality diced and drained canned tomatoes can be substituted)
2 cups frozen petite peas, thawed
2 branches of rosemary, 12 inches each
DIRECTIONS
Prepare oven according to Mugnaini’s High Roasting Environment, 625 – 675˚F
Make sure you have all of your ingredients ready before you start cooking (mise en place). The temperature of the oven will drop with such a large cooking vessel. So start it high and it will come down to 550 degree, which is where you’ll want to be for the remainder of cooking time.
Place 4 cups of the stock in a large sauce pan and add the shells from the shrimp. Cook for 15 minutes, strain and discard the shells. Return the stock to the sauce pan and add the garlic, turmeric, chili flakes, saffron and salt. The stock should taste over seasoned. Simmer stock while the paella is cooking. When ready to add the stock, pour into a 4 cup measuring cup. If there is less than 4 cups, add more stock to return the level to 4 cups.
Place the softened butter into a small bowl. Add the tomato paste and parsley and stir to combine. Set aside.
Place a 15 inch stainless steel paella pan in the oven for 5 minutes. Add the oil and chorizo. Cook, stirring occasionally until the meat is beginning to brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the carrots and onion and continue to cook for another 8 – 10 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften, stirring occasionally.
Deglaze the pan with the wine and cook until reduced by half, about 4 – 5 minutes.
Drop the butter mixture into pan and stir to incorporate. Add the stock and return to oven until it begins to simmer, about 2 minutes. Be careful sliding the pan in and out of the oven because of the large amount of liquid.
Remove the paella pan from the oven and sprinkle the rice over the top. Gently press the rice into an even layer, pushing down with a spatula where the rice is above the stock.
Cover with foil and cook 15 minutes turning the paella pan occasionally.
Remove the pan from the oven. The rice will look dry, but the shellfish will add moisture. Do not stir. Add the clams pushing down into rice. Cover and cook for 10 more minutes.
Remove pan from the oven again and add the shrimp, tomatoes, peas and rosemary branches. The clams should be beginning to open. Cover and cook for 40 more minutes. Rotate the pan every 15 minutes. When done, the clams should be all the way opened, the shrimp pink and the rice tender. If not, recover and cook for 5 more minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 – 15 minutes.
