Seafood paella

Have a shallow paella pan about 36 cm in diameter ready, along with a heat source that covers as much of its base as possible; a small burner will not cook the rice evenly around the edges. You will also need a pot with a lid for the mussels, a saucepan for the broth, and a fine-mesh strainer. Use fresh shrimp and squid or seafood previously thawed in the refrigerator. Pat them dry and cut the squid tubes into rings about 1 cm wide. Scrub the mussels under cold running water and remove their beards. Discard any with cracked shells and any open ones that do not close when gently tapped. Finely chop the garlic. Grate the tomatoes, keeping the skins in your hand, and weigh out 200 g of pulp and juice. Lightly crumble the saffron between your fingers and cut the lemon into wedges. Wash your hands, cutting board, and utensils after handling raw seafood.

Pour 100 ml from the measured 1200 ml of broth into the pot and bring to a boil. Add the mussels, cover, and cook over fairly high heat for about 3–5 minutes, gently shaking the pot once, until the shells open. As the mussels open, lift them into a clean bowl with tongs; discard any that remain closed after cooking. Loosely cover the cooked mussels and set aside only while you prepare the paella. Pour the liquid from the pot through a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth, leaving any sand behind at the bottom. Add enough of the remaining broth to the strained liquid to make a total of 1000 ml of liquid for the rice. Heat it in the saucepan and add the saffron. Keep the rest of the broth hot in reserve; do not pour all 1200 ml into the pan at once.

Heat 45 ml of olive oil in the wide pan over medium-high heat. Add the thoroughly dried squid rings, spreading them in a single layer as much as possible. Cook for about 2 minutes, turning once or twice, until they turn white and begin to firm up. They do not need to brown deeply, as they will continue cooking with the rice. Leave them in the pan with the oil and their juices.

Reduce the heat to medium. Move the squid aside, add the garlic to the exposed part of the pan, and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring, until fragrant. Add the sweet paprika, stir for a few seconds, then immediately pour in the grated tomatoes so the paprika and garlic do not burn. Combine with the squid and cook for about 7–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until much of the juice has evaporated. The sofrito should be thick, red-orange, and lightly glossy with oil, with no watery puddle in the center of the pan.

Add the dry, unrinsed bomba rice to the sofrito and stir for about 1 minute to coat it with the oil and tomatoes. Pour in the prepared 1000 ml of hot saffron liquid. Gently spread the rice and squid into an even, thin layer, then taste the liquid and carefully add salt if needed; the mussels' cooking liquid is already salty. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for about 8 minutes over medium-high heat. From this point on, do not stir the rice. If the burner heats unevenly, carefully rotate the whole pan. By the end of this stage, the rice will have begun to swell, but broth should still be visible between the grains; the shrimp and mussels will be added later.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the rice without stirring for another 4–5 minutes. Arrange the raw shrimp on top, gently pressing them about halfway into the moist rice, and cook for about 5–7 minutes. Halfway through this time, turn just the shrimp with tongs, without disturbing the layer of rice. For the last 2–3 minutes, warm the previously cooked mussels between the shrimp, placing their open shells with the flesh facing up. The shrimp should be pink on the outside and completely opaque inside, and the mussels should be hot. The rice usually needs a total of 18–22 minutes from when the broth is added: check a grain near the center and near the edge, taking the package instructions into account. It should be cooked with a slight bite and no hard, chalky center. If the liquid disappears too soon, pour 50 ml of the reserved hot broth around the edge and continue cooking; repeat only if needed. Do not add liquid to rice that is already cooked. If the rice needs longer, transfer the cooked shrimp and mussels to a clean plate, cover loosely, and return them just before cooking is complete so they do not dry out.

Once the rice is cooked and no free liquid remains at the bottom, you can briefly toast the base to make socarrat, a lightly crisped layer of rice. Only if your pan is suitable, increase the heat to medium-high for about 30–60 seconds, listening carefully for a gentle sizzle. Remove the pan as soon as you notice a lightly toasted aroma; do not wait for smoke or a burnt smell. This stage is optional: simply skip it if the pan has a delicate coating or heats unevenly. Take the paella off the heat, loosely cover with aluminum foil, and let rest for 5 minutes without stirring. Uncover, add the lemon wedges, and serve immediately in four portions, scooping up the rice with the seafood and any crisp layer underneath.