Paella Mixta with Chicken, Chorizo, Shrimp and Mussels

Spike arrived with a new cutting board under one arm and a bag of lemons under the other. “Paella day,” he said. “You need a big board for this.” Truffle came in right behind him with her own bowl. She had heard there would be chorizo, and she wanted everyone to know where she stood on that.

Gerzsi set the wide black pan on the burner out on the terrace. The chicken and chorizo went into the hot oil and started to sizzle. Truffle took three polite steps back. Spike grated the tomatoes on the big holes of the grater until only the skins were left in his paws. Then came the onion, the garlic, the smoky paprika and the saffron water, and the whole pan turned gold.

Gerzsi poured in the broth and scattered the rice over it. Now came the hard part. “No stirring,” said Spike. Gerzsi’s spoon hovered over the pan. His paw twitched. Truffle took the spoon away and gave him the bowl of peas to hold instead.

Then Gerzsi spotted a problem. The middle of the pan was bubbling hard, but the edges were quiet. The pan was much wider than the burner. Chef Tamás came out, gave the pan a quarter turn by its handles and tapped the recipe card where it said to turn it every two minutes. Then he went back inside to his own stove. After that, Gerzsi set a timer and did the turning himself.

At the end Gerzsi pressed the mussels into the rice, hinge side down, and covered the pan to rest. In Valencia, where paella comes from, it is often cooked outdoors and eaten straight from the pan. They did the same. Truffle ate around every coin of chorizo and asked for more peas.

Why this one works

A wide, shallow pan spreads the rice in a thin layer, so it cooks evenly instead of turning to mush at the bottom. Leaving it unstirred keeps the starch from making it creamy like risotto. Short-grain Spanish rice such as bomba soaks up a lot of broth and still holds its shape, and the short rest under foil lets it take up the last of the liquid.

Paella Mixta with Chicken, Chorizo, Shrimp and Mussels

• Servings: 6 to 8
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
• Difficulty: Intermediate
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Saffron rice with chicken, chorizo, shrimp and mussels, cooked without stirring in one wide paella pan.

Ingredients

• About 30 saffron threads (a scant 1/2 teaspoon), crushed
• 1 lb (450 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces
• 10 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 oz (115 g) dry-cured Spanish chorizo, sliced into 1/4-inch (6 mm) coins
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 dried bay leaves
• 3 medium tomatoes
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 7 cups (1.65 liters) chicken broth
• 2 1/2 cups (500 g) short-grain Spanish rice, such as bomba or Valencia
• 8 oz (225 g) fresh or frozen peas
• 1 box (9 oz / 255 g) frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
• 3 jarred roasted red peppers, torn into 1/2-inch (1 cm) strips
• 12 mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

1. Put the saffron in a small cup with 1/4 cup (60 ml) hot water and let it steep for 15 minutes. While it steeps, season the chicken and shrimp with salt and pepper. Cut the tomatoes in half and grate the cut sides on the large holes of a box grater. Throw away the skins.
2. Heat the oil in a paella pan about 16 inches (40 cm) wide or larger over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, chorizo and shrimp and cook for about 5 minutes, turning now and then, until browned. Lift the shrimp out onto a plate. They go back in at the end. Leave the chicken and chorizo in the pan.
3. Add the paprika, garlic, bay leaves, grated tomato and onion. Cook for about 6 minutes, stirring, until the onion is soft.
4. Pour in the saffron with its water and the broth. Add salt until the broth tastes well seasoned, then bring it to a boil over high heat.
5. Sprinkle the rice evenly over the whole pan. Scatter the artichokes, peas and peppers on top. From here on, do not stir. Let it bubble for 10 to 12 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed. If the pan is wider than your burner, give it a quarter turn every 2 minutes so the edges cook too.
6. Turn the heat down to low. Put the shrimp back on top and press the mussels into the rice, hinge side down. Cook, still without stirring, for 5 to 10 minutes more, until the mussels open and the rice is tender but still has a little bite. Throw away any mussels that stay closed.
7. Take the pan off the heat, cover it loosely with foil and let it rest for 5 minutes. Serve from the pan with lemon wedges.

Bomba and other short-grain Spanish rice absorb more broth than long-grain rice and stay firm. Arborio works in a pinch but turns softer. Before cooking, tap any open mussels on the counter. If they do not close, throw them away. Do not stir once the rice is in. Stirring makes it creamy and stops a crust from forming on the bottom. The pan is big, heavy and very hot. Moving it is a grown-up job.

🛒 Worth buying for this recipe

• Matfer Bourgeat Black Steel Paella Pan, 15.6 inch. The winner of America’s Test Kitchen’s paella pan test. Thick carbon steel heats evenly, and once seasoned it is close to nonstick. About $50 at the time of their review. See today’s price on Amazon
• La Paella 16-inch Enameled Steel Paella Pan. Recommended in the same ATK test. It needs no seasoning and is easy to clean. It is thin, so watch the bottom of the rice near the end. Check price. See today’s price on Amazon
• Victorinox Fibrox Pro 8″ Chef’s Knife. The winner of ATK’s chef’s knife test. For cutting the chicken and slicing the chorizo into even coins. About $47 at the time of their review. See today’s price on Amazon
• Winco Statik Board 15″ x 20″. ATK’s winner for large plastic cutting boards. It stays put on the counter and goes in the dishwasher, which helps after raw chicken and shrimp. Check price. See today’s price on Amazon
• Cuisinart Box Grater. The best box-style grater in ATK’s grater test. The large holes turn the tomatoes into pulp and leave the skins behind. About $19 at the time of their review. See today’s price on Amazon
• FAAY 13.5″ Teak Cooking Spoon. A co-winner in ATK’s wooden spoon test. Its flat edge is good for stirring the tomato and onion base before the rice goes in. Check price. See today’s price on Amazon
• OXO Good Grips 12-Inch Tongs. The winner of ATK’s tongs test. For turning the chicken and tucking the mussels into hot rice. About $18 at the time of their review. See today’s price on Amazon

How Chef Tamás makes it

Chef Tamás says almost anything can go into a paella. He makes it with his own stock from fish or chicken bones, and he changes what goes in: only seafood, only chicken, or rabbit or duck, often without chorizo. Green beans or butter beans go in too. What matters is a good base. After that, even yesterday’s roast chicken can go in.

🧰 Tools we use

Tamás didn’t name a brand for this one. The linked model is America’s Test Kitchen’s pick for the same job.

• A carbon steel paella pan. See the ATK pick on Amazon

💡 Chef Tamás’s tricks

• Get the ratio of liquid to rice right.
• Soak the saffron before it goes in.
• Let the paella rest before you serve it.
• Use a wide, flat pan, such as a traditional carbon steel paella pan or a heavy cast-iron skillet. In a nonstick pan the crust on the bottom gets less crisp.
• Keep the liquid and the fat in balance the whole time.
• The most common mistakes he sees: long-grain rice, too little or too much liquid, and overcooked, rubbery shrimp. And people overthink it.
• His Hungarian twist: Hungarian sausage (kolbász) instead of chorizo, and a lecsó base, the Hungarian pepper and tomato stew.
• He cooks it for events in a big pan, and leftovers get reheated the next day. At home, he says, it goes with anything. And he jokes that a paella with meat is really just rizseshús, the Hungarian rice-and-meat dish.

Adapted from Paella With Chorizo, Chicken, and Shrimp (Paella Mixta) on Saveur. Cooked our way at the inn.

Sources

• Saveur: Paella With Chorizo, Chicken, and Shrimp (Paella Mixta)
• America’s Test Kitchen: The best paella pans (Miye Bromberg)
• America’s Test Kitchen: The best chef’s knives
• America’s Test Kitchen: The best large plastic cutting boards
• America’s Test Kitchen: The best graters
• America’s Test Kitchen: The best wooden spoons
• America’s Test Kitchen: The best kitchen tongs