Hola! This is one of my favourite dishes ever.

I make it with a lower ratio of rice to seafood so it’s mostly seafood, which makes it more delicious and healthier. My version is created with all the amazing moorish flavours that are really special as I combined all the best bits from each Spanish recipe I could find and reworked it and it is really simple to make and only needs one pan. My friends think it is the best paella they’ve ever had, partly because the seafood is steamed on the rice for the last ten minutes so it’s tender and not dried out and over cooked. If you are feeding more people just double or triple the quantities, as needed. Just make sure you use a big enough pan.

Serves 2-3.

Ingredients:

2 cloves of minced garlic
3 cups of hot fish stock (I use a half of a Knorr fish Stock Pot, they are brilliant)
A tiny sprig of fresh chopped oregano (or 1/2 a teaspoon of dried)
1 tablespoon of sweet Spanish Sherry
1 small finely chopped white onion
½ finely chopped red pepper
1 cup of paella rice (or risotto rice)
¼ to ½ a teaspoon of hot smoked paprika (depending on how hot you like it)
½ a cup of tinned chopped tomatoes
½ teaspoon of saffron threads
600g approx of mixed raw seafood, I used squid, prawns, clams and mussels
½ cup of frozen petit pois
A sprig of finely chopped parsley
Lemon zest from 1 lemon and a lemon for wedges later
Salt and pepper to taste (can be done at the end of cooking)

Oh… and a glug of good olive oil!

How:
In a large sauté or paella pan put the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, saffron, paprika, onion, chopped pepper and oregano.
Gently fry for about ten minutes till the onion is soft.
Add the rice and the tomatoes and stir fry for another couple of minutes.
Add the petit pois, sherry and the stock and very gently simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes. If the rice starts to dry out add a little boiling water.
Next, put the seafood on top of the rice and put the lid back on and very gently cook for another ten minutes or until the seafood is cooked through and the rice is tender.
Leave to stand for another ten minutes with the lid still on, then check the seasoning and serve sprinkled with the parsley and lemon zest.