Paella recipe

I recently bought large paella pans and a paella grill from La Paella, and I found their tips and recipes useful in upping my paella game (http://www.paellapans.com/Recipes-a/132.htm). These recipes are nice basic guidelines for paella that you can adapt to include the ingredients you want (within reason).

I think the main defining features of paella are a Bomba-type rice, cooked without stirring along with a flavorful liquid (nearly always including saffron and paprika) and some vegetables and/or fish and/or meat, in a thin layer, so that the bottom crisps (the socarrat). Very traditional Valencians would argue for a strict range of ingredients, but I don't think there is a particular fish or meat that you HAVE to include, and vegetarian paellas are still paella (a Valencian friend of mine says her family often makes a vegetarian one -- it's not sacrilege). Favorite paella ingredients beyond the basic flavor base for me are wedges of artichokes (pre-steamed -- they won't cook much further in the paella), white beans, and sauteed summer squash.
But sorry Bobby Flay -- if you precook the rice, although it could be delicious, it's not paella ;)

In Spain, Paella only has seafood in it if it's being made near the water. Otherwise, it features meat. pierino mentioned snails, but rabbit is also very common - and squirrel. You could sub chicken. and use sausages for sure.

To me, not a dish to be made from recipes.

Maybe it won't be your favorite, but nice in rotation or as part of a menu when serving vegetarians..... Kale & Mushroom Paella. One of those that takes loads of ingredients and 3 or 4 sub recipes, but then definitely has complex and subtle good flavors.
http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/kale-and-mushroom-paella-bobby-flay

There was a "your best paella recipe" some time ago: https://food52.com/contests/179-your-best-paella

Some would call it sacrilege, but at the very least it may be a good idea to practice with a vegetarian recipe in order to not waste a lot of expensive seafood. I found the Ottolenghi recipe foolproof: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/apr/12/foodanddrink.recipe.

Hi Nan, making Paella is a big project if you want to do it and you have the right pan you can find many variations on Food52 and on the web. I sometimes cheat to make it for a quick dinner (Pierino will probably rip on me about it) . I buy VIGO brand Spanish rice, it comes with the seasoning. I cook as directions, then I add whatever I feel like adding, seafood, chicken, veggies. You can throw in some mussels and clams in the rice as it is cooking and they will open up right in the rice . either add some already cooked Chorizo sausage cut up or cook some sausage and chicken in a separate pan and mix in with the rice. It's all good..... Pierino mentioned making it outside. I think he is right because true Paella is all about the process, it is an art to do right..

This is my own recipe https://food52.com/recipes/11664-garden-snail-paella Snails are very traditional. You can skip them but then it's a sissy paella. As always paella is best made outside over a wood burning grill.