Authentic Seafood Paella: A Taste of the Ocean
Paella is one of Spain’s most celebrated dishes, with its roots tracing back to Valencia. While the classic version often includes a mix of meat and seafood, this seafood-focused paella highlights the fresh flavors of shrimp, cuttlefish, and ameijoa pretos (black clams). Cooked with a deeply aromatic clam and shrimp broth, this dish is a showstopper for any gathering. We recently cooked this paella for a large BBQ gathering and it was a success making this is great recipe for large groups.
Bomba Rice: The Key to Perfect Paella
Bomba rice, often considered the gold standard for paella, is a short-grain rice variety cultivated in Spain. Unlike other types of rice, bomba can absorb three times its volume in liquid without becoming mushy. This quality makes it ideal for paella, as it soaks up the rich saffron-infused broth while keeping the grains distinct and perfectly cooked. If unavailable, Calasparra rice can be used as an alternative. Amazon is a good source for these rice types if your local market does not have them.
Choosing the Right Stock for an Authentic Seafood Paella
The right stock plays a crucial role in developing the depth of flavor. For this seafood variation, we are going to make a simple clam and shrimp broth harnessing the flavors of our fresh shellfish ingredients. If clams are hard to find using store bought clam broth will work as well, but these can often be over seasoned with additional ingredients and we only need a simple broth. These broth bottles can also be expensive and we will need 7 cups of broth. Our sofrito base, that we will prepare, delivers a lot of the flavors we may typically get from a stock.
Overview on Preparing Paella
1. Prepare the Broth
In a medium pot, combine the clams, coriander seeds and water. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 30 minutes. Remove the clams and their shells to a side bowl, we will use these in the paella, and add the shrimp shells. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Strain the broth and keep warm.
2. Cook the Proteins
In a large paella pan over medium heat olive oil. You will add the proteins and partially cook. In this case we will cook the pork steak and shrimp for a few minutes and set aside. Cooking for a few minutes will impart some of these flavors into the sofrito which we will cook next. The proteins will be added back to the paella towards the end to finish cooking.
3. Prepare the Sofrito
In the same pan, we will cook a base of garlic, tomatoes sauce or paste, bell pepper puree, paprika, saffron, salt and pepper. This base will thicken and infuse the rice with incredible flavor.
4. Toast the Rice
Once we have our sofrito base we then add the bomba rice to the pan. Stir the rice to coat with the sofrito, allowing the rice to lightly toast for a few minutes. White wine is then added, which we will let simmer until it is mostly absorbed.
5. Add the Stock & Arrange Ingredients
Pour in the stock, stirring gently to distribute the rice evenly. Do not stir the rice from this point forward.
6. Simmer the Paella
Let the paella simmer over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, occasionally shaking the pan gently to ensure even cooking. Return the main proteins arranging them evenly on top 5 minutes before the end.
7. Achieve the Socarrat
Increase the heat to medium high for the final 2 minutes to develop the coveted socarrat—a crispy, caramelized layer of rice at the bottom of the pan.
8. Rest & Serve
Remove from heat and let the paella rest for 5 minutes.
Wine Pairing Suggestions
A seafood paella pairs beautifully with a crisp, aromatic white wine. Consider these options:
- Albariño – A bright Spanish white with citrus and mineral notes, complementing the seafood.
- Verdejo – Offers refreshing acidity with hints of tropical fruit.
- Vinho Verde – A lightly effervescent Portuguese wine that enhances the briny flavors of the clams.
- Cava – If you prefer sparkling, a dry Cava adds an elegant touch to the meal.
This seafood paella brings together the best of the ocean in a beautifully balanced dish. Whether for a festive gathering or a cozy dinner, it’s a recipe worth savoring.
Do you love rice with amazing flavor? These Spanish and Portuguese rice recipes have what you are looking for!
- Authentic Paella: Shrimp and Pork “Secreto” Steak
- How to Make Perfect Portuguese White Rice
- Portuguese Yellow Rice – The Best Rice Recipe
Use this cutting technique to speed up your onion and garlic dicing
Authentic Seafood Paella: A Taste of the Ocean
Ingredients
Clam and shrimp broth
- 2 lbs small clams, such as cockles, ameijoa preto, ameijoa branco
- 10 coriander seeds
- heads and shells of 1 lb of shrimp
- 8 cups water
Seafood Paella
- 7 cups clam and shrimp broth, see above
- 1.5 lb cuttlefish, cleaned and cut into 1 inch pieces (can use squid as an alternative)
- 1 lb shrimp, head on
- 3.5 cups bomba rice
- 1/2 cup white wine, dry white wine (sauvignon blanc / Albariño)
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 small onion, fine dice
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 8 peeled canned tomatoes
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper puree
- 2 bay leaf
- 1/2 tbsp paprika
- 1-2 pinches of saffron
- 4-5 tbsp olive oil
- salt, to taste (preferably diamond crystal kosher salt or sea salt)
Equipment
- 1 paella pan 55 cm / 22 in in diameter
- 1 medium pot for the seafood broth
Instructions
Clam and Shrimp Broth
- The clams should be soaked in cold, salted water for at least 30 minutes.
- Since we do not have enough stove top space for our broth pot and paella pan we begin with making the broth.
- Place a medium sized pot on the stove and add the clams, 8 cups of water, and coriander seeds. Turn the heat on to high.
Once the water nears a boil reduce the heat so that the broth comes to a simmer (light bubble).
After 30 minutes of simmering, remove the clams. Add the shrimp shells and heads, cooking for another 5 minutes. After this time strain the broth into a large bowl.- While the broth is cooking prepare the paella ingredients.
Seafood Paella
Prepare the ingredients and place them in containers so that you are ready to add in each ingredient at the appropriate time. Cooking paella is about the layering of flavors, so this is important that everything is prepared prior to turning on the burners.- Place a paella pan on your burner or burners. We typically cook paella on our gas grill, but a coal grill will work too. For this recipe we use multiple burners on our stove. Throughout the cooking process we slightly rotate the pan to ensure even cooking.
- Turn on the burners to medium heat.
- Add olive oil.
Season the shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. Then remove to a plate.
Add the cuttlefish, season with a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add the bell pepper, season with a pinch of salt, and cook for 5 minutes.- Add the onion, and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Managing the heat so that these ingredients do not burn.
Add the white wine and cook for 3-5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, red bell pepper puree, paprika, saffron, bay leaf and season with a pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes.- Heat the stock in the microwave for 1 minute. Warming the stock before adding it to the rice will help with cooking as cold stock will halt the cooking process. (optional, if not able to heat the stock we can just add cooking time on the rice).
- Remove the clam meat from the shells. You can discard the shells.
- Add the rice and stir to coat, cooking for 2-3 minutes.
Add the clam and shrimp broth. Redistribute the rice for even cooking. Cook for 18 minutes. Adjust the heat if necessary, we want a high simmer from the stock. If the stock was cold it may require more time.- Add the shrimp and clams, distributing evenly and pressing slightly into the paella.
- Turn the heat to medium high. Cook for 5 minutes until the stock if full absorbed.
Once the liquid has been fully absorbed the paella is ready to be served. Ideally there will be a light crust on the bottom of the rice, known as soccrat.
