Authentic Valencian Paella

Ingredients

• 4 chicken pieces
• 1/2 lb shrimp
• 1/2 lb mussels, and or calamari
• 2 medium ripe chopped tomatoes
• 6 ounces wide green beans (spanish-bachoqueta)
• 4 ounces large white lima beans (spanish-garrafon)
• 1 teaspoon saffron
• 3 cups Spanish rice
• 8 cups hot water or even better chicken broth
• olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of the paella pan)
• salt (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon red sweet paprika

Directions

1. 1

   First, heat the oil and when it is hot enough, add the seafood and chicken (lightly salted ) and fry until lightly browned. Then add the white and green beans and cook them together with the meat.

2. 2

   While they are cooking, make a clearance in the middle of the paella pans and fry the chopped tomatoes until they look a little pasty, quickly adding the paprika, stirring quickly and immediately adding the hot water or broth until it is almost to the top of the paella pans edge.

3. 3

   Cook all the ingredients for about 20 minutes over a high fire and tasting for salt.

4. 4

   After 20 minutes add the rice, distributing it evenly, making sure the rice is covered with liquid. The heat should be fairly high, not interrupting the boil. It takes about 20 minutes for the paella rice to cook.

5. 5

   Do not stir the rice once you have added it to the paella pans, just change its position so that the heat gets to all parts equally. All the broth should be absorbed when finished.

6. 6

   Take the paella off the heat and let stand for about 10 minutes covering the top with newspaper. If the rice has been cooked correctly, the rice grains should be loose, not clumped together or having a mushy texture.

7. 7

   For a fantastic table presentation, small wedges of lemon can decorate the border and branches of romero (aromatic herbs) in the middle. Now you are ready to dig into your paella with wooden spoons and eat directly from the paela pans!