Try out a spectacular rice broth with seafood
In this area of ours, the Valencian Community, it’s very typical for paella to be the real protagonist of family get-togethers.
But even bearing that in mind, we could say that coming a very close second, we also have this spectacular rice broth with seafood which, as you’ll soon see, also has characteristics that are typically Valencian.
With this rice, you’re going to be really successful. It’s a fantastic example of those dishes that you eat with a spoon.
But let’s not waste any more time and get started on the ingredients and preparation.
Ingredients for 6 people
- 400 gr rice
- 200 gr prawns (you can also use shrimps)
- 12 ‘Valencian mussels’ (clòtxinas de Valencia)*
- 300 gr cuttlefish
- 1 green pepper
- 5 cloves of garlic
- Tomato
- Paprika
- Bay leaves
- White wine
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fish stock*
- Salt and pepper
*The Valencian mussel (La clòtxina de Valencia), also known as ‘the Mediterranean mussel’ (mejillón Mediterráneo), begins its season at the end of April and it lasts until the end of August. It’s a bivalve mollusc smaller than the mussel from Galicia and with a great deal of flavour. If you don’t have ‘clòtxinas’, it’s not a problem if you use mussels from Galicia instead. Their season starts in June/July and lasts up to April/May of the following year.
*You can buy ready-made fish stock but it’s far better if you ask for fish tails at the fishmonger’s to prepare homemade stock.
Preparation
- Take a large deep saucepan, pour in a good dash of Masía El Altet extra virgin olive oil and heat it.
- Cut up the pepper and garlic into small pieces and sauté. Add a bay leaf.
- When the garlic and pepper are golden, add the cuttlefish, also cut up into small pieces. Sauté all of the ingredients.
- Turn up the heat and add a good dash of white wine.
- When the alcohol has evaporated, add the very finely chopped peeled tomato.
- Allow the juice of the tomato to reduce. Also allow all of the ingredients in the saucepan to thicken up.
- Now add the paprika.
- Stir a little and now it’s time to add the rice and the fish stock.
- Cover the saucepan and leave to boil for about 20 minutes. Depending on how strong the heat is, it’ll cook more or less quickly. The best way to know is by tasting it every so often.
- When you consider that there’s only about 3 or 4 minutes to go before it’s ready, add the Valencian mussels and the prawns. If the mussels are fresh, you’ll see how quickly they open.
- All you have to do now is let it sit for about 10 minutes before putting the dish on the table and serving your guests. If you wish to do so, top it with a bit of parsley.
As you can see, it’s a superb dish and one which you can make in a very short time. It’s also extremely easy to make. For it to be absolutely delicious, the only thing you have to bear in mind is that the raw ingredients you use are top quality. And we’d also advise you that they should be products that are in season.