Moro Paella Recipe

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.” ¡Also know as: paella de rape con azafrán. Clams or prawns can be added to this rice with great success. Put the prawn shells in the stock for extra flavour.

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Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 30-40cm paella pan or frying pan over a medium high heat. Carefully add the monkfish to the pan and stir-fry until still fractionally undercooked in the centre. Pour the monkfish and any of its juices into a bowl and put to one side. Wipe the pan clean with kitchen paper, and put back on the heat. Add the remaining olive oil and when it is hot, the onions and peppers, and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring every so often. Turn down the heat to medium, add the chopped garlic and fennel seeds, and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the garlic and the onions have some colour and are sweet. Meanwhile bring the stock to the boil and add the saffron to it to infuse for 10 minutes off the heat. Now add the rice to the pan and stir for 1 minute to coat with the vegetables and oil. (Up to now everything can be done in advance, and you need only continue 20 minutes before you wish to eat.)

Put the heat to medium to high and add the white wine or sherry to the pan, followed by the hot stock. At this point, add half the parsley and the paprika and season perfectly with salt and pepper. Do not stir the rice after this as it affects the channels of stock, which allow the rice to cook evenly. Simmer for 10 minutes or until there is just a little liquid above the rice. Spread the monkfish out evenly over the rice along with its juices. Push each piece of monkfish under the stock. Gently shake the pan to prevent sticking and turn the heat down to medium to low. Cook for 5 more minutes or until there is just a little liquid left at the bottom of the rice. Turn off the heat and cover the pan tightly with foil. Let the rice sit for 3-5 minutes before serving. Decorate with strips of piquillo peppers, the rest of the chopped parsley and the lemon. We would serve this paella with a salad.