I really wanna go to Europe. It has been a ultimate dream to head there for a holiday with the mr. We are in the midst of planning and saving. But not sure when that dream would officially take off! Of course there are a few must go places besides the obviouse France and Italy. But there are others that I would love to visit too! One of which, is Spain. Shopping in Madrid and of course trying the food the country has to offer!

But since it’s going to be at least a while before we get there, I thought I’d bring one of the famous dish you can find in Spain : Paella.

I remember walking at South Melbourne market one of the Saturdays, and seeing huge paella pans cooking these yummy rice with stock bubbling away. Every grain of rice would absorb the delicious and flavourful stock, plump up and become this amazing dish with lots of ingredients, which reminds me of claypot rice. haha I’m not sure what the traditional ones have, but because it was Friday, I used a variety of seafood when I cooked mine! (: Plus, I crank the heat up the last 5-10 mins when cooking to get a crispy base! hehe Just how the mr likes it!

I have to say, I was quite surprised at how easy it was to cook it. You don’t have to stand next to the pan and keep stirring like a risotto. Just let the rice do it’s own magic, and just keep an eye on it every 10-15 minutes as it is cooking. Place the seafood and before you know it, dinner will be served! So give it a shot, just simply delicious! hehe (:

Seafood Paella (adapted from Carlos Lopez on SBS Food, serves 2-3)

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

1 large red chilli, finely chopped

1 tomato, chopped

2 tbs olive oil

1/4  red capsicum, roasted and thinly sliced lengthwise

1/4 green capsicum, roasted and thinly sliced lengthwise

160g arborio rice

pinch of saffron

1 tsp hot paprika

1 calamari (about 200g), diced

8 king prawns

12 mussels

200g basa fillet, sliced

12 pippies/clams

salt and pepper, to season

3 tbs chopped parsley

Steps :

1) In a non-stick shallow frying pan (I used the IKEA 365+ series) / paella pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and fry the garlic, onion, chilli until soft and fragrant. Do be careful not to burn it, as it will turn bitter.

2) Add the rice and give it a stir to make sure each grain of rice is well coated with the oil.

3) Add the chopped squid and fry for 2-3 minutes and stir in the fish stock, saffron, salt, pepper and paprika. Allow the stock to come to a boil and the rice will start absorbing the stock.

4) Keeping the heat at medium, add the fish and prawns and allow it to cook for 10 minutes. At this point, the stock would have reduced and the rice would have swelled and you could see it resurfacing. Add the mussels, pippies, and chopped tomatoes and cook until all the shells are open.

5) Turn the heat to high for the last 10 minutes to get the crispy base that would add a really nice texture to the dish. (Optional but highly recommended). Place the slices of roasted capsicum and and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

Note : Try to resist from stirring the dish while it’s cooking or else it won’t have the nice crust! (:

ENJOY!