Chicken, Chorizo and Shellfish Paella with Saffron Socarrat

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A restaurant-style paella built the way the good ones are: chicken thighs and cured chorizo browned hard first so their fat and fond flavor everything that follows, a saffron-stained broth poured in once and never stirred again, and shrimp and mussels tucked in only for the final minutes so they stay plump. The reward for keeping your spoon out of the pan is socarrat — the toasted, crackling layer of rice at the bottom that makes people fight over the last scrape.

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp saffron threads, loosely packed
• 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup clam juice or seafood stock
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste

• 1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 oz dry-cured Spanish chorizo, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch strips
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
• 2 tsp sweet paprika (pimentón dulce)
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 3 cups Bomba or Calasparra short-grain rice (about 1 lb 3 oz)
• 1 cup frozen lima beans or large butter beans, thawed
• 6 oz green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths

• 1 lb large shrimp (16-20 count), shell-on, deveined
• 1 lb mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Instructions

1. Toast the saffron: place the threads in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat for 45-60 seconds, shaking constantly, until fragrant and brittle. Crumble between your fingers into a small bowl. Combine the chicken broth and clam juice in a saucepan, add the crumbled saffron and 1 teaspoon salt, and bring to a bare simmer over medium heat. Keep it hot on the back burner — cold liquid will stall the pan later.
2. Pat the chicken very dry and season all over with 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt and the black pepper. Toss the shrimp with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt and refrigerate until needed.
3. Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in a 15-inch paella pan or a 13- to 14-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the chicken in a single layer, leaving space between pieces, and brown undisturbed 4-5 minutes per side until deeply golden. Transfer to a plate; it will not be cooked through.
4. Reduce heat to medium and add the chorizo. Cook 3-4 minutes, stirring, until the edges curl and the fat renders out bright orange. Scoop the chorizo onto the plate with the chicken, leaving all the fat behind.
5. Add the onion and bell pepper to the pan and cook 6-8 minutes, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom, until softened and lightly caramelized. Stir in the garlic and cook 45 seconds until fragrant.
6. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes until it darkens to brick red. Add the crushed tomatoes, sweet paprika, smoked paprika and rosemary sprig. Cook 5-6 minutes, stirring often, until the mixture is thick, jammy and pulls away from the pan in a mass — this sofrito is your flavor base, so don't rush it.
7. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes so every grain is coated in the red sofrito and fat. Return the chicken and chorizo to the pan along with any juices, then scatter the lima beans and green beans over the top. Spread everything into an even layer.
8. Pour in all of the hot saffron broth and shake the pan gently to settle the rice into a flat, even bed. Taste the liquid now — it should be a touch saltier than you want the finished dish; adjust with salt. Bring to a lively boil over medium-high heat. From this moment on, do not stir the paella again.
9. Boil hard for 10 minutes, rotating the pan a quarter turn every few minutes if you're on a single burner so it cooks evenly. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 8 more minutes, until the liquid has dropped to just below the surface of the rice.
10. Nestle the shrimp into the rice in a spoke pattern and press the mussels in hinge-side down, so they'll open facing up. Cover the pan loosely with foil and cook 6-8 minutes, until the mussels have opened, the shrimp are opaque and curled, and the rice is tender with almost no liquid left. Discard any mussels that stay shut.
11. Make the socarrat: uncover, raise the heat to medium-high and cook 90 seconds to 3 minutes without moving the pan. Listen for a steady crackle and sniff for toasted rice — the second you smell anything approaching scorched, pull it off the heat.
12. Remove from the heat, cover loosely with foil or a clean kitchen towel and rest 8 minutes. Discard the rosemary sprig, shower with parsley, and serve straight from the pan with lemon wedges, scraping down to the crust with each portion.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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