Paella

What do you do when you want to pre-make some meals for a crowd?  You make a giant pot of paella.  Chicken, clams, shrimp, chorizo, rice and peas all cooked in one cast iron pot on the grill.  (There's a little something for everyone in this steaming pot of seafood goodness.)  

My dad is the one who introduced me to this delicous one pot meal last summer.  He used a Cook's Illustrated recipe to create his version of paella and then shared with me his modifications.  My dad used a 10x13 pan to make his paella but since I didn't have a similar pan, I decided to make do with the pan that I had - a cast iron dutch oven.  

I have to admit that I didn't expect the normally picky eaters who live in this house to love this paella as much as they did.  I really thought they would eat a small helping to be polite but they just kept piling spoonful after spoonful onto thier plates. 

Paella
2 pounds chicken thighs
16 ounces jumbo shrimp
6 Tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
8 ounce bottle clam juice
2/3 cup dry sherry
pinch saffron threads
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers
3 cups Arborio rice
1 pound littleneck clams, scrubbed
1 pound chorizo, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 cup frozen peas
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Place chicken on a plate and sprinkle with 1 t. salt and 1 t. pepper. 

Heat 1 T. oil in saucepan.  Add garlic and cook until garlic begins to brown.

Toss shrimp with 1 T. oil, 1/2 t. garlic, 1/4 t. paprika and 1/4 t. salt.  

Add tomato paste and remaining paprika and cook until dark brown.  

Add broth, clam juice, sherry and saffron.  Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. 

Cook chicken on grill and transfer to a plate to rest. 

Place dutch oven on hot grill.  Add 1/4 cup remaining oil.  ​When oil simmers, add onion, red pepper and 1/2 t. salt. Cook 4-7 minutes until browned.  

Add rice and stir until coated with oil. 

Arrange chicken over rice.  Pour broth mixture and juices over chicken.  

Smooth rice evenly.  When liquid reaches a gentle simmer, place shrimp in center of pan.

Arrange clams in center of pan with hinge sides of clams pushed into rice so they stand up. 

Arrange chorizo evenly over surface of rice.  

Cover pan and cook 12-18 minutes while maintaining simmer. 

Sprinkle peas evenly over paella, cover grill and cook until liquid is fully absorbed and rice on the bottom sizzles.  (5-8 minutes)

Remove pan from grill and cover with foil.  Let stand 10 minutes.  

This paella is super tasty and somehow the flavors just get even better the longer it sits in the refrigerator.  I left the leftover paella in the dutch oven and stored it in the refrigerator for a couple of days.  I pulled it out and put the whole pot in the oven to reheat and serve to my family for lunch on Christmas Eve.  It was nice to have this fully cooked meal ready to reheat and eat on such a busy day.  

Just make sure that you invite your friends and family over when you make this recipe - it's makes plenty for everyone. 
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Ciao!

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