Every culture seems to have its own version of a hearty, comforting rice dish. In Louisiana it’s jambalaya or dirty rice, South Carolina has purloo, Korea has bibimbap, there’s fried rice in China…and the list goes on and on…The Spanish version, paella is one of my favorites; traditionally a saffron-flavored yellow rice mixed with vegetables, meats and/or seafood, herbs and tender green peas that is great from season-to-season. There are several cooking methods to choose from whether it be in a large paella pot on an open fire, baked in the oven, or cooked on the stovetop, and several ingredients to include or not include.
My version of Grilled Paella Mixta is an easy stovetop pilaf rice method with sautéed vegetables and a tasty mixture of sausage, grilled tilapia, and grilled shrimp. This recipe can easily be made vegetarian with grilled vegetables instead of meat, and can be spiced up with your favorite hot sauce or hot peppers. Whatever the ingredients, one thing is certain– this dish is always a great way to feed a large crowd of hungry dinner guests.
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Grilled Paella Mixta
Ingredients:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt & Pepper
- 2 cups of long grain white rice
- 4 cups chicken stock
- Pinch of saffron threads (approximately 1 teaspoon)
- Pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 small red onion, diced
- ½ lb. hard chorizo sausage, cut into rounds
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- Smoked paprika
- 1 lb. shrimp, deveined, tails intact
- 4 tilapia filets
- Hot sauce, for serving
Directions:
- To make the rice, heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add in the rice and stir to coat; toast the rice in the oil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add in the chicken stock, cover the saucepan, reduce the heat to low, add in the saffron and a ¼ teaspoon salt, and cook the rice for 35-40 minutes or until the rice is yellow and fluffy and the liquid has fully absorbed.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in a large sauté pan. Add in the onion and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add in the halved cherry tomatoes and ¼ teaspoon of salt and ground pepper and cook, stirring often for 2 minutes. Add in the sausage and the thawed peas; sauté for 3-4 more minutes or until the peas are warmed through. Add this mixture into a large mixing bowl and toss together with the cooked saffron rice.
- To cook the seafood, season the fish and the shrimp with salt and pepper, plus a light dusting of paprika. Drizzle with olive oil and grill (either indoors or out) until the fish is opaque and cooked through, 2 minutes per side; for the shrimp, 1 minute per side. Cut the fish into chunks and toss the fish and the shrimp in with the other paella ingredients already added into the rice. Serve with hot sauce.
Tagged: cherry tomatoes, green peas, grilled seafood, hard sausage, paella, peas, red onion, rice, saffron, sausage, seafood, shrimp, Spanish, tilapia, Tomato, tomatoes, yellow rice
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