Mussel and chorizo paella

Allyson Gofton

Because I am in France I have made this paella with bouchot blue mussels from the seabed off the Normandy coastline but in New Zealand, green-lipped mussels would be perfect. I’ve allowed 4-5 mussels per person, but add a few more if your pan is wide enough to hold them. To easily make this paella with an authentic flavour use a good quality, spicy Spanish chorizo sausage; maybe an imported brand.

Ingredients

1	Onion, peeled and finely chopped
3	Garlic cloves, use up to 4 as desired, peeled and mashed to a paste with a little salt
¼ cup	Olive oil
150 g	Chorizo sausages, spicy, diced (Main)
½ tsp	Saffron threads
1 ½ cups	Short grain rice
1 tsp	Salt
1 can	Tomatoes, 400g, diced or crushed (Main)
3 cups	Fish stock
16	Green-lipped mussels, use up to 20 as desired; in their shells, cleaned
50 g	Butter, diced, or use 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 190C.
2. In a 28-30cm paella or a large, shallow ovenproof frying pan, cook the onion and garlic in the oil over a moderate heat for 8-10 minutes until softened. Add the chorizo and saffron threads and continue to cook over a moderate heat until the oil runs from the chorizo.
3. Stir in the rice and salt and coat in the fragrant onion mixture, cooking for a further minute.
4. Lower the heat and stir in the tomatoes and fish stock and continue to stir until the mixture comes to the boil. Lower the heat, even out the rice in the pan and simmer, without stirring, for 5 minutes. The mixture should not boil, but simmer.
5. Nestle the mussels on their sides into the rice. Transfer the paella to the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Cover with foil and turn off the oven, leaving the paella in the oven for a further 10 minutes to allow the rice to gently finish cooking. The paella should be moist without being creamy like a risotto. Dot over the butter and garnish with flat leaf parsley and olives if wished.