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Spanish Paella

Paella is such a joyful, colorful and appetizing dish that has a bit of everything I love – mushrooms, veggies, spices, seafood, white wine!

Servings

10~12

Prep Time:

15~20 min.

Cook for:

20 min.

Good For:

Dinner

Introduction

Spanish Paella

Paella is a really easy dish to make as you can almost throw in anything you want as long as you have rice, saffron, chicken stock and white wine. It also is great at keeping your dinner party feeling full! 
The mushrooms add a depth of flavor that enhances the paella. Want to make it vegetarian? Just add more vegetables and omit the chicken stock and meat!
Spanish Paella Meraki Japan

Ingredients

PAELLA

  • Rice, 360 ml.
  • Maitake, 1 bunch
  • Shiitake, 3-4
  • Onion, 1/2
  • Garlic, 2 cloves
  • Olives
  • Zucchini, 1/2
  • Eggplant, 1/2
  • Bell pepper, 1/2
  • Sausage, shrimp, mussels and/or chicken
  • Cumin, a dash
  • Paprika, a dash
  • Fennel, 2-3 dashes
  • Cayenne or chili pepper, a dash
  • Turmeric, a dash
  • White wine, 3 tbsp.
  • Water, 600 ml.
  • Saffron, a pinch
  • Chicken stock cube, 1
  • Olive oil

GARLIC AIOLI

  • Mayonnaise, 2-3 tbsp.
  • Garlic, 1-2 cloves
  • Freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1/2 worth of lemons
Soak the saffron and chicken stock in water (600 ml.) for 10 min. 
In the meantime, fry chopped garlic, onion, shiitake and maitake with olive oil and salt.
Add diced zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper and your choice of protein – I added sausages and shrimp for this one. 
Add the spices: cumin, paprika, fennel, chili and turmeric. 
Add rice, the saffron / chicken stock-flavored water, white wine (I like to add more than 3 tbsp.) and let it cook at medium heat for 20 min. Keep an eye on it though – you want the rice at the bottom to get a bit crunchy but not burned! In Japanese, these slightly “scorched,” crunchy parts are called okoge.
Blend the aioli ingredients and serve along with the paella! 

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