Shrimp & Sausage Paella!

Since I can remember, my father’s favorite dish has been Paella. Growing up, my mom and I would always cook Paella for him, so this year I decided to do that for his birthday.

This dish basically combines all my loves in one--saffron (I have been known to carry some in my purse), Arborio rice (which, when cooked right, becomes so creamy and texturally interesting) and sausage. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world because the part that has the delicious spice must be gathered by hand and there are only a few per flower, so it’s a labor-intensive venture. It also one of the most unique fragrances which cannot be replicated without those little orange strands. It grows mostly in North Africa and the Middle East but was first discovered in Greece; and it colors food with a beautiful yellow/golden/orange hue.

Some use regular Spanish rice for this dish but I prefer the consistency of Arborio…obviously. You can add in clams or chicken, or anything you want, as long as you have the couple main ingredients.

My mom loved serving this dish at parties because you bring the whole big cooking wok to the table and, when you remove the lid, this cloud of fragrant, intoxicating steam rises up and drives everyone wild with hunger.

I’ve never cooked this for anyone who didn't LOVE it!

Ingredients:

- 6 cloves garlic

- ½ red onion

- 1 red bell pepper

- 1 orange bell pepper

- 1 green bell pepper

- 2 red jalapenos

- Cherry tomatoes

- ¼ cup oregano

- Chopped Parsley

- 1-1 ½ tsp Saffron

- Hot Italian sausage or chorizo

- Shrimp

- Lemon

- ½ tsp Paprika

- 1 tsp Cumin

- Olive oil

- 4 cups Chicken Stock

- ½ cup of white wine

- 2 cups Arborio Rice

- S&P

Directions:

- Mince garlic, dice onions and peppers, slice jalapenos, halve the cherry tomatoes.

- Brown the full sausages in oil in pan. Make sure to poke little holes in the sausage so they don’t burst and take them out once nice and browned. I brown them whole because if you cut them prior to cooking, the meat will squeeze out of its casing and I don’t like it that way. I cut them into nice slices after they’ve cooked like this.

- Meanwhile peel and de-vein the shrimp. This is done by making a slight cut along the outside curve. Once you do this, you should easily find a string-like, vein-looking thing that can just be pulled out. This is technically the shrimp’s stomach. I also left the tail on because I think it’s prettier that way.

- Sear the shrimp until it’s curled and pink. It shouldn’t be cooked all the way through as we will add it back to the paella in the end to finish it off. Same goes for the sausage.

- Sautee onion, garlic, bell peppers, jalapeno, cherry tomatoes in all those yummy juices in the pan.

- Heat the stock in a pot with a pinch of saffron in it.

- Add saffron to the sautéing veggies - Now I don’t have a specific quantity for you because I basically just add a pinch to every layer. As I do with S&P. SO salt and peppa that now too.

- Sautee until very fragrant and vegetables begin to soften.

- Add rice and sauté again for about 3 min.

- Add more saffron, paprika, cumin, and half the oregano.

- Add stock about a half cup at a time until the liquid evaporates each time. Keep stirring, cause this is what gets the rice to that creamy texture. This takes about 20 minutes.

- Add sausage, shrimp, parsley and squeeze of lemon juice, and let cook in the pan, covered, for about 5 minutes.

- Serve topped with a little parsley.