Rich Man’s Rice – Arròs Parellada

Recipe

Ingredients for 4 servings: 360 grs of rice (bomba is a good choice), 1100 ml of fish stock (home made is better), 150 grs of boneless chicken, 150 grs of pork sausage, 150 grs of boneless monkfish, 1 cuttlefish (small/medium size) 2 medium onions, 1 garlic clove, 3 ripe tomatoes, 1 green pepper, 2 roasted red peppers (in case you want to present the dish like it shows in the pictures), 8 red shrimps, 12 mussels, 20 clams, 50 grs of peas, 3 branches of parsley, olive oil (0,4º) and salt. ALL INGREDIENTS SHOULD BE FRESH AND 1ST QUALITY.

• Pour enough olive oil to cover the surface of the paella (pan) and fry at medium heat the shrimps. Salt them and reserve. Add the monkfish cut in small dices to the paella, salt it and fry till golden (stir so that it doesn’t get sticked to the pan). Reserve. Add the cleaned and cut cuttlefish and cook till golden. Reserve. In the same oil (add more if you need) fry the meats cut in small dices, salt them and when golden, reserve.
• Prepare the sofrito: Cut the onion into small pieces and place in the paella at low heat until transparent using the oil of the meat and fish, add the cut green pepper and when soft, add the garlic clove cut in small pieces. When fragant add the grated tomatoes. Stir at low/medium heat until it caramelizes.
• Clean the mussels and clams. Steam with a bit of water and reserve. Discard the valves but keep their meat and the strained water. Prepare your own fish stock: Heat some olive oil in a deep pot and place the shrimps peels and heads, also the monkfish bone and 1 onion. When the shrimps peel get red, add 1 1/2 liters of water and  1/2 of the mussels and clams water. Let it boil for maximum 1/2 hour. Squeeze the shrimps head, strain the stock and reserve.
• Add the meat/fish to the sofrito pan and stir for one minute. Meanwhile get the fish stock boiling.
• Add the rice and stir mixing all ingredients together for another minute. Heat should be medium.
• Pour 1100 ml of boiling stock inside the pan and have at high temperature for the first five minutes. Stir a bit to distribute the ingredients. Add the peas. Keep on cooking without stirring for another 10 minutes at low/medium heat. Taste and add salt if necessary. 2 minutes before the 10th minute, add the peeled shrimps, the mussels and the clams.
• Mince the parsley leaves and sprinkle over the rice. Take away from the heat, cover with a lid and wait 3 to 4 minutes until the grain is done.
• Now it’s ready to be served. If you want to present it like I have done in the pictures, place a mold over a plate, cover the inside of the mold with the roasted red pepper and place the rice inside until full. Decorate with the shrimps and mussels.
• Enjoy!!!!
• Tips to improve the result: make your own stock fish, use fresh, not frozen ingredients, right after pouring the stock inside the pan, squeeze half the spleen of the cuttlefish inside. Try to use olive oil and not other oils.