Seafood Paella

Serves 4

Ingredients:

¼ cup/50 ml olive oil
3 shallots, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon/1.3 g Persian saffron powder
2 cups/375 g long grain white rice
1/2 cup/100 ml dry white wine
1 teaspoon/6 g salt
4 cups/900 ml chicken stock, warmed
1 tomato, seeded, diced
8 black mussels, scrubbed, debearded
8 Manila clams, scrubbed
4 colossal shrimp, halved lengthwise, deveined (with shells)
4 sea scallops
1 tablespoon/about 3 g roughly chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon/15 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, halved

Method:

Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C. Heat ¼ cup/50 ml of olive oil in a 12-inch/30-cm-diameter paella pan (a broad, shallow pan with two handles) over medium heat.  Add the shallots and sauté for 2 minutes.  Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves, and sauté until the shallots are tender and translucent, about 1 minute.

Sprinkle the saffron powder over the shallot mixture and sauté for 1 minute. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes or until the pan is quite dry and the rice is coated with oil. Stir in the wine and salt then the warm chicken stock. Stir the rice to distribute it evenly in the pan.

Bring to a simmer over high heat then remove the pan from the heat. Sprinkle the tomatoes over the rice mixture. Nestle the mussels, clams, shrimp and scallops into the rice mixture.Carefully transfer the pan to the oven and bake the paella uncovered for about 35 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the seafood is cooked (discard any mussels and clams that do not open).

Remove the paella from the oven. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil. Squeeze the lemon juice over the paella and serve.