Seafood Paella

serves 6 - 8

Ingredients :
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 rashers of bacon
200 grams firm white fish fillets
12 fresh black mussels
12 prawns
12 scallops (if not available, could be substituted with diced chicken breast)
2 lemons
1 onion
2 to 4 cloves of garlic
2 cups of paella or short grain rice
1 cup of white wine
3 cups of fish or chicken stock
½ teaspoon of saffron threads
½ teaspoon of chili powder
2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup of corn kernels
½ cup of green peas
1 chorizo sausage (if not available, could be substituted with any other firm, spicy, smoked pork sausage)
15 to 20 cherry tomatoes
fresh chopped parsley

Method :
Clean and scrub the mussels, peel and devein the prawns and cut the fish fillets into 4cm cubes. Slice the onion into thin wedges.
Peel and crush the garlic cloves.
Slice the bacon into small strips(lardons) and put aside, and slice the chorizo sausage into thin slices.
Pierce the tomatoes with a skewer twice - to stop them bursting while cooking.
Heat the stock, adding the saffron to release the colour.
Heat a large frypan, wok or traditional paellera pan.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil and the bacon. Fry the bacon until golden, remove from the pan and set aside.
Add the remaining oil and sauté the onion until transparent without browning.
Add the crushed garlic and rice, and stir to coat with the oil.
Add the cup of white wine, chili, paprika, bay leaves, salt and pepper and one ladle of the heated stock and saffron.
Continue ladling in the stock, one ladle at a time, stirring and simmering until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender - this takes approximately 35 minutes.
Add the corn and peas to gently cook through.
Add in the cooked bacon and seafood, stirring through to heat.
Now add the sliced chorizo and cherry tomatoes, continue to heat through stirring gently to combine. Discard any unopened mussels.
Sprinkle with freshly chopped chopped parsley and garnish with lemon wedges.
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(Above image : courtesy of tyraspictures.blogspot.com)

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