Seafood Paella

1 1/4 cups of medium grain rice
4 cups of chicken stock (or fish stock)
1 + 1/2 glass of white wine
1 pinch of saffron
30 mussels
20 clams
15 large prawns
1/2 onion
1 stalk of celery
1 fennel bulb
2 garlic cloves
8” chorizo sausage – sliced across ways
small handful (total) of chopped fresh basil and parsley
olive oil
lemon wedges

Finely chop the onion, celery, fennel and garlic. Scrub the mussel shells, and debeard. Scrub the clam shells. Peel the shrimp, and de-vein if required. Discard any mussels or clams that have broken shells, or are open and don’t close up tight when you scrub them.
In a small pan, warm the stock over a low heat.
Put the saffron in 1 glass white wine, and let it infuse for at least 10 minutes.
Heat the paella pan over a medium heat, and add two tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot add in the onion, celery and fennel. Cook gently until soft – about 10 minutes. Add in the garlic, and cook for another minute. Stir in the rice, and let it absorb some of the oil. Add in the chorizo. Turn up the heat and pour in saffron infused wine. Let this boil for a minute, and then add in most of the stock. Gently stir.
Let this boil gently for 5 minutes. Add in the prawns, and cook for a further 15 minutes. You will want to gently stir this from time to time, to make sure everything is heating evenly. If it looks like the rice is absorbing all the stock too early (before the 15 minutes is up) add a little more in.

For authentic paella you do not want stir the dish during the last half of cooking. The best paella has a crust on the bottom of the rice (where the rice is in contact with the pan) – this is only achieved through not stirring.

With a few minutes to go in the cooking process, put a large pan over a high heat. Add in the 1/2 glass of white wine, and get it boiling. When it has reduced by about half, toss in the mussels and clams. Cover with a tight fitting lid, and turn the heat down to medium-high. These will take about 3 minutes to steam open. Discard any mussels or clams that haven’t opened.
Arrange the shellfish in the paella, sprinkle with the basil and parsley. and let sit for a few minutes, off the heat for the flavors to meld together. Serve with the lemon wedges.