Paella on the Grill

Paella is a traditional rice dish of Spain.  It is a combination of saffron-flavored rice and various meats and/or shellfish.  Paella's name comes from paellera, the flat, round pan in which it is cooked.

After cooking paella, there is usually a layer of toasted rice at the bottom of the pan, called socarrat. To paella connoisseurs this is highly desired and is essential to a good paella. Even heat under the flat paella pan helps to achieve this. I have cooked paella on the stovetop.  It tasted great but I had to move the pan a lot to get even cooking underneath it and never got a real crispy socarrat. My solution to this was to cook a paella on our BBQ grill.  Traditionally, paella is cooked over open wood fires so this is a close substitute. It worked wonderfully!  I turned all the burners on the grill and the paella pan had even heat throughout. Next I need to try it in our wood-fired pizza oven. 

 

Paella is a one-pan dish.  It's not hard to make but does take some time to get all the liquid absorbed in the rice and to achieve the crunchy socarrat. We made this one Friday evening.  The weather was wonderful, we opened a bottle of wine and chatted while the paella was cooking. 

There are two key ingredients in paella.  The first is a short grain rice.  If you can find a paella rice (bomba), that is preferable.  My local stores didn't have any so I used an Arborio rice.  The second key ingredient is the spice saffron. A little saffron goes a long way, I only used 1/2 teaspoon in my paella.  I also soaked mine in the chicken broth so that the saffron flavor was more evenly distributed throughout the paella.

You can add or substitute other meats and shellfish such as chicken and clams to the dish.

This is a great dish to serve to a crowd, it makes a lot. Traditionally paella is served straight from the pan, it's placed in the middle of the table and everyone eats from the side closest to them. If you're not comfortable with that, serve it in a bowl!

Paella on the Grill

1 lb. shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1/2 lb. smoked Andouille sausage, sliced
1 1/2 cups short grain rice
1 white onion, finely chopped
4 small fresh tomatoes, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
5 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 cup of frozen peas, defrosted
1/4 cup olive oil

Heat your grill, for a gas grill have all burners on and leave on medium-high.

Put chicken broth in a saucepan, add the saffron.  Warm up on grill.

Put the paella pan on the grill and drizzle the bottom with the olive oil.

When the pan is hot, add the sliced smoked sausage and cook for a few minutes.  Add the onions and garlic, stir for a minute more, or until they are releasing their aroma.

Add the tomatoes and paprika.  Stir until combined then add the saffron-infused stock. Bring to a boil, then lower the flame so it simmers gently for 15 minutes.

Add the rice.  Stir everything in the pan thoroughly.  Once mixed thoroughly, do not stir again.  Arrange the shrimp on the mixture.  Continue to cook the rice over medium to low heat.  Add the green peas when very little liquid is left in the pan.

Increase the heat to high for a short time to create the crusty socarrat. Remove from the heat and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

It takes a bit of time for all the liquid to be absorbed.  Grab a glass of wine and relax!