Paella Recipe Guardian

Spanish paella made in a traditional pan – the original of the dish did not feature seafood, but chicken, rabbit and, occasionally, snails. Photograph: martiapunts/Getty Images/iStockphoto

I’ve tried to replicate paellas I’ve had in Spain, but none matches the colour, fragrance and subtlety of the real thing. Where am I going wrong?

Most people cock up paella because they stray too far from the dish’s humble, rural origins, says chef and restaurateur José Pizarro. “Traditionally, it’s made with only 10 ingredients, ” he explains. “That is, olive oil, chicken, rabbit, green beans,

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[A-grade Valencian butter beans], tomato, saffron, salt, rice and water or stock.” Depending on season and location, he says that this base is supplemented with a few other ingredients, from garlic and onions to peas and

(smoked paprika) to game, snails or seafood, but that’s about as far as you ought to go, or you risk tipping your Spanish rice into caricature territory.

Spanish uber-chef Quique Dacosta, who last year opened his first UK restaurant, the paella-based Arros QD in London, agrees: “All the ingredients are important, but the king is the stock, because that’s where much of the flavour comes from.” For this reason, he never uses concentrate or cube, and insists it’s made from scratch, “mainly because you have no control over its quality otherwise, and also because the whole paella ritual always starts with the stock”.

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Angel Zapata Martin, head chef at the four-strong Barrafina group of restaurants in London, makes his stock first by roasting the bones, trimmings and shells of whatever meat or seafood he’s using in the paella, then puts them in a pot with shallot, carrot, fennel, garlic, tomato paste and

(dried pepper) or pimentón, all topped with water. “The secret is not to use too much, or you’ll end up with a bland stock, ” he says. “Three fingers above the solids is plenty.”

The type of rice is also critical, all three cooks agree, and it has to be Spanish medium-grain. Pizarro and Dacosta recommend

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Will also do the trick; Zapata is rather more specific: “The rice is key – I use only Illa de Riu bomba from southern Catalunya, which benefits from the rich soil in which its grown.”

Paella is, of course, named after the pan in which it’s traditionally made, and Dacosta is adamant you shouldn’t really call it paella if it’s not cooked in one: “It’s just not the same in a frying pan.” Zapata, however, isn’t quite so strict on this particular score: “Yes, a proper paella pan is preferable, ” he agrees, “but the closest you have to a very wide, flat pan should be OK.”

Base – diced onion, garlic, tomato and, perhaps, red pepper – and browned the meat, stir in the rice to coat, pour in the stock … and leave well alone: “

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Stir paella, ” Pizarro warns, a sentiment Zapata endorses: “It makes the rice go stodgy and mushy.” We’re not making a risotto here, after all.

Dacosta uses 1, 200ml stock per 240g rice, and cooks it for 20 minutes precisely – “We start counting the moment the stock goes in the pan” – until the liquid’s absorbed and the rice is plump. The Valencian way, he says, is to end up with a thin layer of flavour-filled rice with a crisp base, or

. To get the same effect, Zapata recommends leaving the pan on the heat for a short while after the rice is cooked, “until you hear it sizzle and see the edges crisp”. Mind you, Dacosta adds, “not all paellas have socarrat and not everyone loves it”.

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Another flaw of many a dodgy paella, Dacosta says, is that “the vegetables are often horribly overcooked by the time the rice is ready”, so add them only after it’s half-cooked. “And always use proper saffron, ” Pizarro says, “never turmeric or colourant – that’s sacrilege.”

A scattering of fresh herbs and a dash of lemon is all you really need to finish, but for a more cheffy flourish, Zapata adds a

For a last hit of flavour: “Blend saffron, raw or roast garlic and white wine, then pour all over the paella and leave to soak in for a few minutes before serving.” ¡This famous Spanish dish is our equivalent of the Sunday roast, a dish that brings friends and family together. If the weather allows, we cook it on an open fire – you are rewarded with an amazing smoky aroma. This paella recipe is the fruit both of my own investigations and those of top Valencian chefs and grandmothers. Follow this recipe and I guarantee you will soon be tasting the best paella. Buen provecho!

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First prepare the artichokes. Trim the stalks and peel away the outer leaves so you are just left with the artichoke hearts. Scrape away any furry choke with a teaspoon, then run a lemon half over the hearts so they don’t discolour.

Wrap the saffron in foil and toast it for 30 seconds on each side in a paella pan over a medium heat. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Increase the heat to the maximum and season around the edges of the pan with the table salt. Wait until the pan is really hot and then drizzle with the olive oil. It should start smoking immediately; at this point throw in the pieces of chicken and rabbit (the meat needs to absorb the salt at this early stage). Fry the meat until nicely browned on all sides (this will add to the flavour of the paella).

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Add the runner beans and broad beans and stir together for 1 minute before adding the garlic. Cook for 1 minute and then add the grated tomatoes (discarding the skin), pimentón and toasted saffron. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring all the time, until you can see that the tomatoes have lost most of the juice and changed colour.

Add the water or chicken stock and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes, allowing the bits of caramelised chicken and vegetable on the bottom of the pan to dissolve so you get a rich stock. If you use chicken stock instead of water you will only need to simmer for 5 minutes. Check the seasoning but bear in mind that the rice will absorb a lot of saltiness, so it’s okay if it tastes quite salty at this stage.

Cut the artichokes into quarters and add to the pan – if you add them any earlier the entire paella will turn dark in colour. Add the rice, spreading it evenly over the paella pan and stir just once. Cook on the highest heat for about 10-12 minutes before reducing the heat right down and cooking for a further 5-7 minutes. Once you have added the rice and given it a good stir you shouldn’t touch the pan with a spoon again. You need to keep the film that develops on the top of the stock from breaking, otherwise the steam will escape and the rice won’t cook evenly.

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When the water is at a lower level than the rice itself, add the rosemary sprig. If the layer of rice on the top starts to look a bit crispy, cover the paella pan with a layer of newspaper for the last 5 minutes of cooking. This will help to steam the grains on top while the bottom gets crispy. In Spain this crispy bottom layer, the ‘socarrat’, is the most valuable part of the paella. Once the paella is finished it should look like a completely flat layer of rice. Leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

This particular dish, served at one of the better traditional restaurants in Valencia, El Plat, is made with llagostins, a variety of prawn known scientifically as Penaeus caramote – a particularly large and meaty species. Any kind of prawn will do, though – as fresh as possible, please.

Sauté the unpeeled garlic in the oil for about 10 minutes to flavour the oil, then remove and discard the garlic or set it aside for another use.

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Add the fish stock, bay leaf and cayenne to the oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make a picada by crushing the finely chopped garlic, parsley, pine nuts and fried bread in a pestle and mortar. Moisten it with a few drops of the cooking liquid and then stir it into the pot.

When cold, the bechamel in this recipe firms up quite a bit, making it easier to roll, and when it is fried it becomes creamy inside with a thick, crisp crust. You can prepare the croquettes ready for frying the day before and keep them in the refrigerator.

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In a large pan, melt the butter and gently saute the onion over a low heat until it is soft. Add the ham and cook, stirring for a minute or so. Then stir in the nutmeg and about half the milk and bring to the boil.

Beat the flour with the remaining milk using an electric mixer until any lumps have disappeared. Then pour into the pan, stirring vigorously, and