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Paella Valenciana
Serves 6 Prep 15 min Cook 45 min Total 1 hr Type Meal Origin Spanish

Paella Valenciana

The original paella from Valencia: chicken, rabbit, beans, snails (or rosemary if you're squeamish) and saffron rice cooked in a wide flat pan. The rice is unstirred to develop the prized socarrat - the caramelised crust on the bottom of the pan.

Serves 6 Prep 15 minutes Cook 45 minutes Units Rate

Overview

Chicken thighs and rabbit pieces brown in olive oil, joined by green beans, butter beans and a sofrito of tomato and paprika. Saffron-infused stock and short-grain bomba rice go in, simmered without stirring until the rice is tender and the bottom has crisped into socarrat.

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 chicken thighs (skin-on, bone-in, halved)
  • 2 rabbit legs (cut into pieces) or 4 more chicken thighs
  • 100 g flat green beans (cut into 3 cm pieces)
  • 100 g butter beans, drained from a tin
  • 2 ripe tomatoes (grated, skins discarded)
  • 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
  • 1 large pinch saffron threads
  • 1.2 litres warm chicken stock
  • 350 g bomba rice (or other short-grain Spanish rice)
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • Salt
  • Lemon wedges, to serve

Method

Stage 1 - Brown the meat

  1. Heat the olive oil in a 35-40 cm paella pan (or wide shallow frying pan) over medium-high heat.
  2. Season the meat with salt; brown the chicken and rabbit pieces deeply on all sides. Push to the edges of the pan.

Stage 2 - Sofrito

  1. Add the green beans to the centre and stir for 3-4 minutes.
  2. Pour in the grated tomato; cook 5-6 minutes until thick and dark.
  3. Add the smoked paprika and saffron; stir 30 seconds.

Stage 3 - Rice and stock

  1. Pour in the warm stock; bring to the boil.
  2. Sprinkle the rice evenly across the pan in a cross pattern.
  3. Distribute the butter beans and rosemary sprigs over the surface.
  4. From this point, DO NOT STIR.

Stage 4 - Cook the rice

  1. Boil hard for 10 minutes, then reduce to medium-low.
  2. Cook another 8-10 minutes until the rice is just tender and the liquid is almost absorbed.
  3. Listen for crackling at the base - that's the socarrat forming. Crank the heat to high for 30-60 seconds at the end if needed.

Stage 5 - Rest and serve

  1. Take off the heat, cover with a clean tea towel and rest for 5-8 minutes.
  2. Serve from the pan with lemon wedges.

Notes

  • Don't stir the rice: Stirring releases starch and breaks the socarrat. The whole point is the unbroken crust at the bottom.
  • Bomba rice: Holds its shape under the long simmer. Arborio works in a pinch but releases more starch.
  • Wide flat pan: Paella needs a thin layer of rice (about 1 ½ cm). A deep pan turns it into rice-and-stew.

Storage

  • Best the day it's made. Keeps 2 days refrigerated; reheat in a pan with a splash of stock (the socarrat is gone but the flavour is fine).

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