One of my family’s favourite dishes is a delicious Seafood Paella with Saffron Rice. The beauty of this recipe is that it’s perfect for any occasion, especially weekends and holidays like Christmas Eve and Good Friday when fish is traditionally enjoyed, oh and really quite simple to make, leaving you plenty of time to enjoy yourself with your family and friends.

This fresh seafood dish makes for a memorable meal that you and your loved ones are sure to enjoy. It is so easy to prepare and makes a wonderful presentation, especially when served with a side salad or green vegetables.

This recipe is really easy to follow, but you will need some time for it to simmer. The best thing about this Seafood Paella is that it’s very versatile; you can use any type of seafood or meat in place of the prawns if desired.

Mama’s Seafood Paella

Fresh seafood paella, served with a slice of lemon

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Breakfast, Main Course

Cuisine: Gibraltar, spanish

Servings: 6

Author: Mama Lotties

Ingredients

6-8 tomatoes
1 large onion
2 long frying peppers
3 Garlic cloves
saffron pinch
olive oil
salt
bayleaf
500 g clams*
500 g Prawns
2 medium squids
Rice A handful per person + one extra

Instructions

Place a pan over a low to medium heat with a splash of olive oil and begin by making a refrito. Do this by finely dicing your onion and garlic and frying until translucent, then dicing your peppers and adding them to the pan along with your onions and garlic. Cook until soft.
Once soft, chop your tomatoes and add to the pan. Continue to gently fry until the tomatoes turn soft and begin to puree little.
Meanwhile, slice your squid into little portions, I like to keep the tentacles separate and slice the rest into chunks, add this to the pan. Now add a generous pinch of saffron, bayleaf and clams, cover with water and stew for about 10 minutes so that the squid becomes a little, but not completely tender.
Now add the clams, rice and more water to cover the rice and leave to stew for 20 minutes, checking occasionally as the rice will soak up a lot of the moisture. Stir if required as we do not want the bottom to burn.
Meanwhile, rinse and peel the prawns, removing the tails, shells and heads. Place the prawns to one side and throw the rest into a separate smaller pan and cover with water.
Boil this separate pan for 10 minutes to create a stock. Now sieve and drain the water into your paella dish, this will top up the water soaked up by the rice.
Add the peeled prawns to the dish and leave for 3 – 5 minutes until the rice is soft and excess water has evaporated. You don’t want this to be too dry but you do not want it to be too runny either.
Serve with a slice of lemon.