How to make perfect paella
Oven or hob? And what about stock? Picking your way through paella purists' recommendations can be more than a little tricky
Serves 2-4, depending on hunger
4 raw, unshelled tiger prawns
90ml olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
500ml good-quality fish stock
150g sustainable monkfish, cut into chunks
1 onion, finely diced
1 tsp smoked paprika
200g chopped tomatoes
50ml dry white wine
Pinch of saffron soaked in 1 tbsp hot water
200g Calasparra or other short-grain rice
150g baby squid, cut into rings
150g broad beans
150g mussels, scrubbed
Handful of flat-leaf parsley to garnish
½ lemon, cut into wedges
Shell the prawns and put the flesh aside. Heat 1 tsbp olive oil in a large pan and gently sauté one clove of chopped garlic for two minutes. Add the prawn heads and tails and sauté, stirring to break them up, for three minutes. Pour in the stock and simmer gently for 30 minutes, then strain, season to taste and keep warm.
Heat the remaining oil in a 26cm paella or other wide, thin-based pan and add the monkfish. Sauté for five minutes until slightly browned, then remove and set aside. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, then stir in the paprika and cook for one minute. Tip in the tomatoes and wine, turn up the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the squid and beans.
Stir in the rice to coat well so it forms an even layer, then add 400ml stock and the saffron and soaking water. Simmer vigorously for 10 minutes then arrange the monkfish, mussels and prawns on the top of the dish, pushing them well into the rice but not otherwise disturbing it. Cook for about eight minutes – if the dish looks very dry before the rice has cooked completely then add the rest of the stock, bearing in mind it shouldn't be at all soupy.
Cover the dish with foil and take off the heat. Allow to rest for 10 minutes then garnish with flat-leaf parsley and wedges of lemon.
Is paella Spain's proudest culinary achievement, and can a seafood version ever hope to compete with a proper paella valenciana? What do you like to put in yours – and has anyone been brave enough to try one of Alberto Herráiz's dessert paellas?