The Wood-Fired Blog

Wood Fired Paella

Jul 03, 2012Posted by Forno Bravo

This one is a keeper.

I have said this many times over the years — Paella Valenciana is one of my dishes. It reminds me of long, warm summers visiting my wife’s family near Valencia in Spain, and countless memorable dinners. We had company over for dinner yesterday, and our oldest daughter is home from college, so the timing was perfect. I used Arborio rice and saffron along with chicken, white fish, clams (mussels are more traditional, but hey), white beans and red peppers.

Fire your oven for an hour or so, bringing it up to full temperature and then push the fire and coals to the outer edges of the oven floor. You will want your oven to hold baking temperature for at least an hour, and it should be in the high 500Fs when you start cooking.

The big difference between Paella and Risotto is that the rice is set in the Paella, where you add stock and the cooking liquids from the shellfish on top of the rice — without moving it. To make great pizza oven Paella, be sure to cook everything in the pan, adding ingredient in layers.

Brown the chicken in olive oil, add a can of tomatoes and cook until they break down, add your rice and cook until it is translucent, start adding stock and the finally add the ingredient that will cook in the rice, including the fish, beans and vegetables.

The final rice should be fully cooked and not mushy, and the dish should be very moist. Let the finished pan rest for 5-10 minutes before serving with lemon slices.

Enjoy!

 

Archives

Have any questions?