A classic Spanish rice dish built around saffron, smoked paprika, and a sofrito of onion, red pepper, tomato, and garlic, with squid rings, shell-on king prawns, and mussels cooked directly in the pan. The rice absorbs the saffron-gold stock and seafood juices to a tender, flavourful finish, finished with parsley and lemon wedges at the table.
0.25tsp
3tbsp
1piece
4clove
2piece
200g
2tbsp
1piece
1.5tsp
1tsp
100ml
300g
1tsp
0.5tsp
300g
400g
1piece| # | Product | Quantity | Notes | State | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 0.25tsp | — | — | |
| 2 | 942ml | — | — | ||
| 3 | | 3tbsp | — | — | |
| 4 | | 1piece | — | — | |
| 5 | | 4clove | — | — | |
| 6 | | 2piece | — | — | |
| 7 | | 200g | — | — | |
| 8 | | 2tbsp | — | — | |
| 9 | | 1piece | — | — | |
| 10 | | 1.5tsp | — | — | |
| 11 | | 1tsp | — | — | |
| 12 | | 100ml | — | — | |
| 13 | | 300g | — | — | |
| 14 | | 1tsp | — | — | |
| 15 | | 0.5tsp | — | — | |
| 16 | | 300g | — | — | |
| 17 | | 400g | — | — | |
| 18 | | 1piece | — | — |
Measure the saffron strands into a small bowl.
Saffron strands · 0.25 tsp
Pour the hot chicken stock over the saffron strands in the small bowl.
Leave the saffron to steep in the hot stock for at least 5 minutes, until the liquid turns a deep gold.
Peel the onion and discard the skin.
White onion · 1 piece
Pour the olive oil into the paella pan.
Light olive oil · 3 tbsp
Set the paella pan over a medium-high heat and warm the oil until it shimmers.
Tip the diced onion into the heated olive oil in the paella pan. Take the pan off the heat while you prepare the next ingredients.
Peel the garlic cloves and discard the skins.
Garlic · 4 cloveTransfer the sliced garlic to a small bowl and set aside.
Grate the tomatoes on the coarse side of the grater directly onto the chopping board, discarding the skins.
Ripe tomatoes · 2 piece
Scrape the grated tomato flesh into a small mound on the board, ready to transfer.
Lay the squid on the chopping board ready to cut.
Squid · 200 gCut the squid bodies into rings about 1 cm wide, and leave the tentacles whole.
Roughly chop the flat-leaf parsley leaves on a clean chopping board and set them aside.
Flat-leaf parsley · 2 tbspTip the chopped parsley into a small bowl and set aside.
Rinse the red pepper under cold running water.
Red pepper · 1 piece
Halve, deseed, and dice the rinsed red pepper into small pieces.
Put the paella pan back over the heat, then add the diced red pepper to the diced onion.
Stir and sauté the onion and red pepper together over a medium heat for about 9 minutes until softened and lightly golden.
Add the sliced garlic to the softened vegetables in the paella pan.
Add the smoked paprika to the pan.
Smoked paprika · 1.5 tspAdd the sweet paprika to the pan.
Sweet paprika · 1 tspStir and sauté everything together for 1 minute until the spices are fragrant and evenly coating the vegetables.
Add the grated tomatoes to the aromatic base in the paella pan.
Stir and sauté the tomatoes into the base for about 4 minutes, cooking until the mixture thickens and the tomatoes darken slightly.
Pour the dry white wine into the tomato base.
Dry white wine · 100 mlLet the wine bubble and reduce for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated.
Add the paella rice (bomba, or another short-grain paella rice) to the reduced wine base in the 34–38 cm paella pan.
Paella rice · 300 gStir the rice thoroughly into the base for 2 minutes, making sure every grain is coated in the sofrito.
Pour the hot chicken stock into the pan over the coated rice.
Pour the saffron liquid into the pan and stir briefly to combine.
Season the rice with salt.
Salt · 1 tspAdd the ground black pepper.
Ground black pepper · 0.5 tspGive everything a good stir to distribute the seasoning and saffron evenly through the rice.
Bring to a gentle simmer and cook without stirring for 10 minutes, letting the rice begin to absorb the stock.
Scatter the squid rings evenly over the simmering paella.
Continue to simmer for a further 3 minutes without stirring.
Nestle the raw king prawns into the rice in a single layer.
Raw king prawns · 300 gCheck the mussels: throw away any with cracked shells, or open ones that don't close when tapped. Push the rest hinge-side down into the rice around the pan.
Mussels · 400 gSimmer for a further 9 minutes until the prawns are pink and cooked through, the mussels have opened and most of the stock has been absorbed; if the rice is still hard when the pan runs dry, sprinkle over a little more hot stock. Discard any mussels that stay closed.
Cover the pan tightly with kitchen foil.
Leave the covered paella to rest off the heat for 5 minutes so the rice finishes steaming and the flavours settle.
Rinse the lemon under cold running water.
Lemon · 1 pieceCut the rinsed lemon into wedges, on a clean chopping board.
| # | Product | Tool | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.25 tsp | | Measure the saffron strands into a small bowl.⏱ 10sResultSaffron strands |
| 2 | 3 tbsp | | Pour the hot chicken stock over the saffron strands in the small bowl.⏱ 10sResultSaffron strands and hot chicken or vegetable stock |
| 3 | — | | Leave the saffron to steep in the hot stock for at least 5 minutes, until the liquid turns a deep gold.⏱ 5 minResultSaffron liquidused in step 35 |
| 4 | 1 piece | | Peel the onion and discard the skin.⏱ 20sResultPeeled onion |
| 5 | Peeled onionstep 4 | | Dice the peeled onion into small, even pieces.⏱ 45sResultDiced onionused in step 8 |
| 6 | 3 tbsp | | Pour the olive oil into the paella pan.⏱ 10sResultLight olive oil |
| 7 | — | | Set the paella pan over a medium-high heat and warm the oil until it shimmers.⏱ 1 minResultHeated olive oil |
| 8 | Diced onionstep 5 | | Tip the diced onion into the heated olive oil in the paella pan. Take the pan off the heat while you prepare the next ingredients.⏱ 10sResultDiced onion and heated olive oil |
| 9 | 4 clove | | Peel the garlic cloves and discard the skins.⏱ 30sResultPeeled garlic clove |
| 10 | Peeled garlic clovestep 9 | | Slice the peeled garlic cloves thinly.⏱ 30sResultSliced garlic |
| 11 | Sliced garlicstep 10 | | Transfer the sliced garlic to a small bowl and set aside.⏱ 5sResultSliced garlicused in step 24 |
| 12 | 2 piece | | Grate the tomatoes on the coarse side of the grater directly onto the chopping board, discarding the skins.⏱ 1 minResultGrated tomatoes |
| 13 | Grated tomatoesstep 12 | | Scrape the grated tomato flesh into a small mound on the board, ready to transfer.⏱ 10sResultGrated tomatoes |
| 14 | Grated tomatoesstep 13 | | Transfer the grated tomatoes into a small bowl.⏱ 5sResultGrated tomatoesused in step 28 |
| 15 | 200 g | | Lay the squid on the chopping board ready to cut.⏱ 5sResultSquid |
| 16 | Squidstep 15 | | Cut the squid bodies into rings about 1 cm wide, and leave the tentacles whole.⏱ 1 minResultSquid rings |
| 17 | Squid ringsstep 16 | | Transfer the squid rings to a small bowl and set aside.⏱ 5sResultSquid ringsused in step 40 |
| 18 | 2 tbsp | | Roughly chop the flat-leaf parsley leaves on a clean chopping board and set them aside.⏱ 30sResultRoughly chopped parsley |
| 19 | Roughly chopped parsleystep 18 | | Tip the chopped parsley into a small bowl and set aside.⏱ 5sResultRoughly chopped parsleyused in step 50 |
| 20 | 1 piece | | Rinse the red pepper under cold running water.⏱ 30sResultRinsed Red Pepper |
| 21 | — | | Halve, deseed, and dice the rinsed red pepper into small pieces.⏱ 45sResultDiced red pepper |
| 22 | Diced red pepperstep 21 | | Put the paella pan back over the heat, then add the diced red pepper to the diced onion.⏱ 10sResultDiced red pepper and diced onion and heated olive oil |
| 23 | — | | Stir and sauté the onion and red pepper together over a medium heat for about 9 minutes until softened and lightly golden.⏱ 9 minResultSoftened vegetables |
| 24 | Sliced garlicstep 11 | | Add the sliced garlic to the softened vegetables in the paella pan.⏱ 10sResultSliced garlic and softened vegetables |
| 25 | 1.5 tsp | | Add the smoked paprika to the pan.⏱ 10sResultSliced garlic and softened vegetables and smoked paprika |
| 26 | 1 tsp | | Add the sweet paprika to the pan.⏱ 10sResultSliced garlic and softened vegetable mixture |
| 27 | — | | Stir and sauté everything together for 1 minute until the spices are fragrant and evenly coating the vegetables.⏱ 1 minResultAromatic base |
| 28 | Grated tomatoesstep 14 | | Add the grated tomatoes to the aromatic base in the paella pan.⏱ 10sResultGrated tomatoes and aromatic base |
| 29 | — | | Stir and sauté the tomatoes into the base for about 4 minutes, cooking until the mixture thickens and the tomatoes darken slightly.⏱ 4 minResultTomato base |
| 30 | 100 ml | | Pour the dry white wine into the tomato base.⏱ 10sResultTomato base and dry white wine |
| 31 | — | | Let the wine bubble and reduce for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated.⏱ 2 minResultReduced wine base |
| 32 | 300 g | | Add the paella rice (bomba, or another short-grain paella rice) to the reduced wine base in the 34–38 cm paella pan.⏱ 10sResultReduced wine base and paella rice |
| 33 | — | | Stir the rice thoroughly into the base for 2 minutes, making sure every grain is coated in the sofrito.⏱ 2 minResultCoated rice |
| 34 | 897 ml | | Pour the hot chicken stock into the pan over the coated rice.⏱ 10sResultCoated rice and hot chicken or vegetable stock |
| 35 | Saffron liquidstep 3 | | Pour the saffron liquid into the pan and stir briefly to combine.⏱ 10sResultSaffron liquid and coated rice and hot chicken or vegetable stock |
| 36 | 1 tsp | | Season the rice with salt.⏱ 10sResultCoated rice and hot chicken or vegetable stock mixture |
| 37 | 0.5 tsp | | Add the ground black pepper.⏱ 10sResultCoated rice and hot chicken or vegetable stock mixture |
| 38 | — | | Give everything a good stir to distribute the seasoning and saffron evenly through the rice.⏱ 30sResultSeasoned paella rice |
| 39 | — | | Bring to a gentle simmer and cook without stirring for 10 minutes, letting the rice begin to absorb the stock.⏱ 10 minResultStock-absorbed paella rice |
| 40 | Squid ringsstep 17 | | Scatter the squid rings evenly over the simmering paella.⏱ 10sResultSquid rings and stock-absorbed paella rice |
| 41 | — | | Continue to simmer for a further 3 minutes without stirring.⏱ 3 minResultSquid-tender paella |
| 42 | 300 g | | Nestle the raw king prawns into the rice in a single layer.⏱ 10sResultSquid-tender paella and raw king prawns |
| 43 | 400 g | | Check the mussels: throw away any with cracked shells, or open ones that don't close when tapped. Push the rest hinge-side down into the rice around the pan.⏱ 10sResultSquid-tender paella and raw king prawns and mussels |
| 44 | — | | Simmer for a further 9 minutes until the prawns are pink and cooked through, the mussels have opened and most of the stock has been absorbed; if the rice is still hard when the pan runs dry, sprinkle over a little more hot stock. Discard any mussels that stay closed.⏱ 9 minResultOpened-mussel paella |
| 45 | — | | Cover the pan tightly with kitchen foil.⏱ 10s |
| 46 | — | | Leave the covered paella to rest off the heat for 5 minutes so the rice finishes steaming and the flavours settle.⏱ 5 minResultRested paellaused in step 49 |
| 47 | 1 piece | | Rinse the lemon under cold running water.⏱ 30sResultRinsed lemon |
| 48 | — | | Cut the rinsed lemon into wedges, on a clean chopping board.⏱ 20sResultLemon wedgesused in step 51 |
| Total Time | 58 min | ||
| Nutrient | Per serving |
|---|---|
| 478kcal | |
| 36g | |
| 14g | |
| 3g | |
| 36g | |
| 4g | |
| 2g | |
| 3,159mg |
A classic Spanish rice dish built around saffron, smoked paprika, and a sofrito of onion, red pepper, tomato, and garlic, with squid rings, shell-on king prawns, and mussels cooked directly in the pan. The rice absorbs the saffron-gold stock and seafood juices to a tender, flavourful finish, finished with parsley and lemon wedges at the table.
What you’ll doYou will begin by steeping saffron in hot stock, then build a sofrito of onion, red pepper, garlic, paprika, and grated tomato before deglazing with white wine. The paella rice goes in next, coated thoroughly in the base, then the stock and saffron liquid are added and the pan is left strictly undisturbed as the rice absorbs them. Seafood is added in stages — squid first, then prawns and mussels — before the pan is covered and rested off the heat to finish steaming.
