Rice
Brown Rice Seafood Paella
Brown rice slowly cooked in a broth made from prawns, clams and bacon, with saffron, sweet peppers and lemon. The chewy grains soak up all the seafood flavour — a colourful dish for a weekend dinner.
- Serves
- Serves 3–4
- Time
- About 1 hour 20 minutes (plus soaking the brown rice)
Ingredients
- Brown rice300 g
Broth
- Water900 ml
- Vegetable bouillon cube (or stock cube)1
- Head-on prawns4
- Clams, purged200 g
- Bacon30 g
For the rice
- Olive oil2 tbsp
- Garlic1 clove
- Onion1/2
- Saffrona pinch (about 0.2 g)
- Salt1/2 tsp, plus more to taste
To finish
- Red and orange sweet peppers1/2 each
- Lemon1/4
- Flat-leaf parsley (optional)a little
Method
- Rinse the brown rice and soak it in plenty of water for at least 6 hours. Drain well in a sieve.
- Devein the prawns and cut the bacon into 1 cm strips. Put the water, bouillon, prawns, clams and bacon in a pot over medium heat. When the clams open and the prawns change colour, lift everything out and keep the broth warm.
- Take about 3 tbsp of the warm broth and soak the saffron in it to release its colour.
- Finely chop the garlic and onion. Cut the peppers into thin wedges and the lemon into wedges.
- Warm the olive oil and garlic in a paella pan over low heat. When fragrant, add the onion and cook until soft.
- Add the rice and stir until every grain is coated in oil. Pour in just enough broth to cover the rice, then add the saffron with its liquid and the salt.
- Simmer over medium-low heat. When the broth has reduced, add more, again just enough to cover the rice. Repeat 3–4 times, cooking for 40–50 minutes in all, until the rice is tender. Taste along the way and adjust with salt.
- When the broth is gone, lay the peppers on top and arrange the prawns, clams and bacon. Cover with foil and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat to high for about 10 seconds to form a light crust on the bottom, then turn it off. Leave covered for 10 minutes, and serve with the lemon and parsley.
Tips
- Soaking the brown rice first shortens the cooking time and keeps the centre from staying hard.
- Cooking the prawns and clams in the broth first, then lifting them out, keeps them tender while their flavour goes into the broth.
- Add the broth a little at a time as it reduces, not all at once. If you run out, top up with hot water.
- With white rice: do not rinse it, use about 600 ml of broth and cook for 15–18 minutes.
A brown rice paella Chie made for a weekend dinner. Paella looks festive the moment it reaches the table. Brown rice gives it a pleasant chewy texture and soaks up the seafood broth well.
