Seafood Paella

Seafood Paella (with Pasta!) – serves 12

          It was New Year’s Eve—we had 12 people coming for a “special” dinner.  A survey of the guests’ dietary preferences eliminated meats, mushrooms, raw tomatoes, rice and a few more obscure items that I had no intention of using anyway. Common recipes for seafood seemed to satisfy everyone, except for the rice. In an old Food & Wine annual cookbook, I found a recipe for something called “Sardinan Style Paella,” which called for a pasta called “fregola” (instead of rice).

          Using this as a frame work, I came up with a variation that was a winner with all. It does require considerable timing challenges in adding the ingredients properly so that the pasta is cooked but not dry and the seafood cooked just right. The ingredients made this a special dish for a special occasion!

          Often, paella served in restaurants comes with overcooked seafood and sticky rice. This version avoids these pitfalls and is worth the extra effort.

          Since all of you can read a recipe—ingredients and measurements—I will concentrate on the techniques of cooking and assembling this dish. The ingredients listed were my choice and the ingredients in the original recipe are listed in parentheses—but be creative and make it “your way.”

Ingredients:

·        Large pinch of saffron threads

·        3-4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

·        1 medium/large onion finely chopped

·        4-5 large garlic cloves thinly sliced

·        2 ½ c orzo (or 1 lb. fregola*)

·        ¾ lb. turkey sausage, casing removed and crumbled (1/2 lb chorizo thinly sliced*)

·        1 cup canned diced tomatoes drained

·        1 cup dry white wine

·        Salt & pepper to taste

·        2 lbs. large shrimp (at least 2 per person), shelled and deveined (I used shrimp sized 8-15/lb.)

·        1 ½ lb. large sea scallops (at least 2 per person) (2 lb. red snapper, cod or monk fish *)

·        1 lb. mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded

·        ¾ lb. cooked crabmeat (1 lb. cockles, scrubbed *)

·        1 lobster weighing 1 ½ lbs cooked and cooled

·        2-3 tbsp. chopped flat leaf parsley

Note:  Before proceeding, steam clean mussels for 4-5 minutes. Discard unopened mussels and remove from heat. Remove lobster meat from pre-cooked lobster. Cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

Directions:

1.     In a small bowl, crumble saffron threads in half cup warm water. Let stand 10 minutes.

2.     Cook orzo according to directions on box but cook pasta half the time called for on the box and remove from heat.

3.     Head extra virgin olive oil in a very large, deep sauté pan. Add onion and garlic, cooking over high heat, stirring until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes.

4.     Add crumbled turkey sausage and continue cooking another 2-3 minutes.

5.     Add tomatoes, wine, saffron and its warming liquid plus 1 ½ tsp. salt and ½ tsp. pepper.

6.     Stir in the half-cooked orzo and add a little water if needed. Mix well and tuck shrimp and scallops into mixture for the last half of the orzo’s cooking time—about 5 minutes.

7.     Add crab meat, lobster meat and mix. Tuck pre-cooked mussels into mixture—cover and continue cooking under low heat for 2 minutes or until all flavors are combined. This method cooks the orzo just right while just heating the shrimp and scallops properly.

This recipe is a lot of work timing everything correctly, but it is worth it.  The dish is great the next day because the orzo has had a chance to absorb all the juices and flavors.  Enjoy!