Tomato Tomatoe

seafood paella

Seafood paella is one of my favorite dishes. I tried it for the first time while traveling to Barcelona. I immediately fell in love. The crispy rice paired with the fresh seafood was just incredible. This is how I like to recreate it at home. It’s not the traditional recipe but this is my take on it. I always need to add vegetables to every meal and roasted them makes the perfect addition to the rice and seafood. I hope you give it a try and let me know what you think!

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seafood paella

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant, sliced into rounds
• 1 head of fennel, sliced
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 1 Spanish onion, diced
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes. I like Mutti’s polpa the best
• 1 tsp saffron (add a few tsp hot water to this)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup long grain or bomba rice
• 1 pound of mussels
• Shrimp 8-10
• Lobster or seafood of choice
• Roasted red pepper topping:
• 1 cup Roasted red peppers (homemade or store brought)
• 1/4 cup Kalamata olives, chopped
• 1 handful of fresh parsley chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
  

Directions

1. Slice the zucchini and eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds. Slice the fennel and onion. Add vegetables to a baking sheet. Brush vegetables with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at 400 for 30-40min flipping half way through. Cook until golden.
2. To make the roasted red pepper topping, slice the peppers into long and thin pieces. Chop kalamata olives and fresh parsley. Add everything to a bowl and season with olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Heat a large Dutch oven or a large shallow cast iron pan to medium high heat. Add a few tbsp of olive oil and add the onion. Once this has cooked for a few minutes and becomes translucent, add garlic and the smoked paprika. Stir until fragrant. Add tomato purée, saffron, chicken stock. Add salt to taste. Stir this to combine. Cover and bring to a boil.
4. Once at a boil remove the lid and add the rice. Stir to combine. Cook on medium for 10 minutes without stirring. Taste for salt and cook for 10 more minutes without stirring. Once the rice is almost at al dente, add the lobster, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add the shrimp and mussels next. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the seafood is cooked.
5. Once everything is cooked, remove from heat and serve with vegetables and the roasted red peppers.