Best Mexican Paella Recipes

MEXICAN PAELLA

Steps:

• Place chicken broth and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a medium saucepan. Cover and heat over low heat.
• Over a low gas flame or under the broiler, roast poblano pepper, turning frequently, until charred, about 5 minutes over flame or 10 minutes under broiler. Remove from heat and cover with a clean kitchen towel until cool enough to handle. Rub off charred skin using a paper towel; remove stem and seeds. Rinse pepper and pat dry; cut into 1/2-inch strips; set aside.
• Place tomatoes and their juices in the jar of a blender. Blend until smooth; set aside.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat olive oil in a 12-inch paella pan over medium-high heat. Season skin side of chicken thighs with salt and place skin-side down in pan; season with salt. Cook until skin is deep golden, about 10 minutes. Turn and cook until chicken is browned and juices run clear, about 10 minutes more. Transfer chicken to a large rimmed baking sheet and set aside.
• Reduce heat to medium and add onion and chorizo. Cook, stirring, until chorizo is cooked through and onion begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add reserved poblano pepper and tomato puree. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and oil begins to separate from mixture, about 5 minutes.
• Add rice to pan and cook, stirring, until rice turns milky white in color, 4 to 5 minutes. Add heated chicken broth and stir to combine. Cook, without stirring, until rice has absorbed most of the liquid and is almost cooked through, about 12 minutes.
• Return chicken to pan and nestle into the center of the rice. Arrange shrimp in a ring around the chicken and the mussels in the rice at the edge of the pan. Cover the pan with a piece of parchment paper-lined aluminum foil; transfer to oven and bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove paella from oven and stir in peas, parsley, and tequila, if desired. Using a large serving spoon, gently fluff mussels and shrimp into rice mixture. Re-cover and let stand for 10 minutes until rice and shellfish are cooked through. Serve immediately.

RICK BAYLESS' MEXICAN PAELLA WITH SHRIMP, MUSSELS, AND CHORIZO

Steps:

• The broth and flavorings. In a large (12-quart) stock pot, combine the broth and salt. Measure in 1 gallon of water, cover the pot and set over medium-low heat.
• Roast the fresh tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet 4 inches below a preheated broiler until blackened and blistered, about 6 minutes per side. Cool, then peel (if you wish). Scoop the tomatoes (fresh roasted or canned roasted) into a blender or food processor, along with all their juices. Puree and set aside.
• Roast the poblanos over a gas flame or 4 inches below a preheated broiler, turning frequently, until blackened all over, about 5 minutes for the open flame, 10 minutes under the broiler. Collect in a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. When cool rub off the blackened skin and pull out the stem and seed pod, then tear the chiles open, scrape out the seeds and rinse briefly under cold water to remove stray bits of skin and seeds. Chop into ½-inch pieces.
• Brown the chicken. Sprinkle the skin side of the chicken thighs with salt. Set the paella pan over the burner or wood fire-the burner set on high, the wood fire stoked to an impressive blaze. Give the pan a minute or so to heat up, then add the olive oil. Tip the pan to distribute the oil, then immediately start laying in the chicken, skin-side down. Sprinkle with salt. Fry-move the pieces around as necessary to ensure they're not sticking and that they are cooking evenly-until the skin is deeply golden, about 10 minutes. Turn the chicken thighs over (I like to do this with a pair of tongs), and fry until browned and cooked through (juices from a small cut at the thickest part will run clear), 8 to 10 minutes longer. Remove to a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in a low oven.
• Cook the flavorings. Immediately add the onion and chorizo to the pan. Stir (I use a long-handled grilling spatula), breaking up lumps of chorizo, until the chorizo is cooked through and the onion is beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for a couple of minutes longer. Stir in the tomatoes and poblanos, and cook, stirring nearly constantly, until the mixture is very thick and the oil has separated from it, 7 or 8 minutes.
• Start cooking the rice. If using wood, make sure you fire is still stoked to burn very hot. Add the rice to the flavorings, stir to combine, and keep stirring for 4 or 5 minutes, until a good portion of the rice has turned from translucent to milky white. Pour in the broth mixture and set a timer for 12 minutes. Stir once a minute, slowly and thoroughly scraping across the bottom of the pan and moving the rice from edges into the center. At 12 minutes, the rice should have absorbed enough liquid to look like risotto. Check a kernel of rice: it should be getting soft, but still have a tiny bit of chalkiness at the center. If the rice doesn't look or taste ready, let it cook another minute or two.
• Add the chicken and shellfish. Working quickly (I usually ask for help from a guest at this point), nestle the chicken thighs into the center of the rice, lay the shrimp in a ring around the chicken and arrange the mussels in the rice around the edge of the pan. Cover the pan with two pieces of heavy duty foil (it's typically 18 inches wide) or with a folded-up tablecloth. Turn the burner to its lowest setting or remove the burning logs from under the paella (but leave the embers). Let stand for 10 minutes to cook the shrimp and mussels and finish cooking the rice.
• Serving the paella. Uncover the paella and sprinkle with the peas, parsley, and, if you're using it, the tequila. Using a large serving spoon, gently fluff the mussels and shrimp into the rice mixture. (You can do the same thing with the chicken, but it's more difficult.) You can breathe a sigh of relief. You're ready to serve.

MEXICAN SEAFOOD PAELLA

Steps:

• Saute onions, bellpeppers, garlic, and crab legs in olive oil until onions are translucent.
• Add rice to pan. Saute, stirring frequently, until rice turns golden brown.
• Mix Sazón packet with 1 cup of the chicken stock.
• Add wine and Sazón mixture to pan. Stir until liquid is absorbed.
• Add chicken stock, shrimp, and tuna. Stir once, lay lobster on top, making sure to submerge the exposed meat, then cover.
• Cook for 15 minutes. Do not uncover the pan during this time.
• Add peas and tomato. Recover and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

MEXICAN PAELLA WITH CAULIFLOWER RICE

Steps:

• Place paella pan or large flat-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Cook and crumble chorizo sausage, stirring to break up chunks, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add chicken; cook and stir with sausage until chicken is no longer pink instead and is browned. Transfer chicken and sausage to a plate.
• Reduce heat to medium and add 2 cups of the cauliflower rice. Cook, stirring for 5 minutes to brown the cauliflower slightly (this brings out a nutty flavor). Add the diced onion and bell pepper. Season with a pinch of salt, and pepper to taste. Add the minced garlic. Cook 2 minutes longer.
• Pour canned tomatoes into pan. Add bay leaves, thyme leaves, saffron, and basil. Mix well. Transfer sausage and chicken mixture back to pan. Add water, tomato paste, and bouillon. Stir to combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer 15 minutes.
• Remove lid and fold in peas and remaining 1 cup of cauliflower rice. Place frozen tilapia filets on top of the paella mixture, cover and steam for another 10 minutes. Remove lid and check for doneness. Gently break apart fillets with wooden spoon, and stir to incorporate chunks of fish into paella.
• Serve from the pot at the table!