Seafood Paella
This is a recipe from Mary’s husband Jason, slightly adapted to make it low FODMAP. Jason grew up with parents who were both chefs and owned a fabulous restaurant using the best seafood the Indian Ocean could offer. He knows his seafood and this dish is tried and tested for many family celebrations. We hope it will be a favourite for your family too.
Ingredients (serves 5):
2 cups of short grain rice (Calasparra or Bomba work well)
5 cleaned squid with tentacles
500g raw whole tiger prawns
5 raw mussels, de-bearded
2 filets of white fish
150g cherry tomatoes
150g red capsicum
2 tbsp frozen peas
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 pinches of saffron
1 tsp of vegetable stock powder
2 garlic cloves
salt and pepper
1 heaped tsp smoked paprika
large bunch of parsley, chopped
a sprig of thyme
1 cup of white wine (optional)
1 litre water
Method:
First prepare the prawns. Remove the head and the shells, but leave on the tails. Place the heads and shells in a pan for the stock.
De-vein all the prawns. Use a small sharp knife to make a slit along the middle of the back to expose the dark vein. Pull out the vein.
Slice the squid into rings.
Add around 1 litre of water to the pan with the prawn heads and shells. Heat and simmer for around 30 mins. Then drain out the water through a sieve into a fresh pan pressing down on the prawn head to squeeze out the juices.
Pre-heat the oven to 170 ℃.
Add the saffron and a little stock powder to the stock and gently simmer for another 10 mins, then keep it warm as you add it to the paella.
Add the olive oil to the paella pan. Add the cloves of garlic and heat gently. Remove before it browns.
Chop the red capsicum into strips and then small cubes. Turn up the heat to a moderate heat and add the red capsicum to the pan. Stir and allow to soften and let the oil take on the colour of the capsicum.
Add the rice and stir. Listen for the sound of it frying and turning a little translucent around the edges.
Add the chopped parsley, the thyme leaves, salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Keep stirring.
If using the wine, add it now.
Add the paprika and stir again.
Start adding the stock. Add 2 ladles and stir. Then let it reduce. When mostly absorbed, add 3 more ladles of stock.
Cut the fish into 1 ½ inch by 1 ½ inch cubes. Add the fish and stir again. Simmer for a short while (5 mins) until the fish is cooked around the edges. Check that the rice is also going translucent.
Stir though the frozen peas.
When the stock is nearly absorbed add another 3 ladles of stock.
Add the squid rings and prawns and push down into the rice and stock
Add the whole cherry tomatoes and also submerge.
Add a little more stock to cover.
Carefully transfer the pan to the oven.
Cook for around 20-30 mins or until its starts to look crispy and slightly browned on top - test that the rice is tender. If it start to look dry add more stock. Add the mussels after 15 mins pushing them into the rice.
Serve garnished with lemon wedges.