John's Spaniversary Paella

SERVES: 8 PREP: 40 MINUTES TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR, 20 MINUTES

John's Spaniversary Paella

SERVES: 8 PREP: 40 MINUTES TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR, 20 MINUTES

A special recipe in the Teigen-Legend household. As John says, make this paella for someone you love.

JOHN: As many of you know, after an extremely challenging pregnancy, we lost our little baby Jack on the last day of September 2020. Leading up to that day, Chrissy was doing her best to save his life. Her placenta had abrupted and the doctor said our only hope was for Chrissy to stay on bed rest: Don’t move, and maybe things will heal and he could safely grow.

Our anniversary falls on September 14, and I had planned a romantic getaway, but we couldn’t do that. When your partner is carrying your child and things are so challenging, it’s a very powerless feeling. I wanted to help as much as possible, but there’s nothing you can do about the central cause for concern. The best you can do is to be there to support her and make all the other aspects of her life easier, more joyful, in any way you can. So, I made a plan to cook her a special anniversary meal. We talked about it in the morning and she said she was craving Spanish tapas. So, I set out to fulfill all of Chrissy’s desires and “Spaniversary” was born. I made bacon-wrapped dates, ham and cheese croquetas, and gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp) starters, and the main course was a hearty paella full of spice and bursting with a wonderful combination of rice, vegetables, meat, and seafood. It definitely made Chrissy’s night.

Of course, a beautiful meal won’t solve all your problems, but it’s a good way to show someone you love them. Make this paella for someone you love.

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INGREDIENTS DIRECTIONS

7 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound spicy Spanish-style chorizo sausage links, cut into ½-inch-thick rounds
4 small skinless, boneless chicken thighs (1 pound), cut into bite-sized pieces
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1 jumbo onion, diced
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
5 garlic cloves, finely minced
¼ cup tomato paste
1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes, with juice
2 teaspoons paprika
1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
1 generous pinch of saffron threads (just under ¼ teaspoon)
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 ¾ cups Calsaparra, Bomba, or Arborio rice (all “round,” starchy varieties)
8 jumbo (about 1 pound) shrimp, preferably with peel and head, or 1 pound peeled and deveined large shrimp
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
1 Lemon wedges, for serving

In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a low simmer, cover, and keep warm on a back burner over low heat.
Heat a large (14-inch) cast iron skillet or other high-sided heavy skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, swirl it around, then add the sausage and cook, stirring often, until just browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the sausage from the skillet, leaving as much of the oil in the pan as you can.
Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper, add it to the skillet, and cook, stirring once, until the chicken is lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to the plate with the sausage, again leaving the oil in the skillet.
Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits, until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 1 more minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until caramelized, 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice and cook, breaking up the tomatoes with a spoon and stirring, until some of the liquid is absorbed, 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in the 2 teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, the paprika, thyme, saffron, and cayenne, then return the sausage, chicken, and any juices back to the skillet. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, until shiny and coated in oil and juices, 2 minutes. Carefully pour in enough of the hot broth to completely cover the rice (5 to 6 cups) and very gently stir and shake the skillet so the broth settles in. Cook the rice, stirring occasionally. Gradually add more broth (you shouldn’t need much more than 1/2 cup more) to keep the rice fully covered for the first 10 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook the paella (DON’T stir!), adding small amounts of broth to cover until a grain of rice is very al dente (not quite edible yet) and most of the liquid is absorbed but some is still visible, 13 to 14 minutes. (You may not use all of the broth.) If you want to develop a soccarat (crust) underneath, rotate the pan around the burner about 90 degrees every minute or so.
Arrange the shrimp on top of the rice and cook, uncovered, until mostly cooked through, 4 minutes per side if using headon jumbo shrimp or 2 minutes per side for smaller, peeled shrimp. Remove from the heat, cover with a lid or foil, and let rest to develop the underside crust and finish cooking the shrimp, about 10 minutes. Uncover and scatter with the parsley.
To serve, scoop out portions of the rice and shrimp from the skillet, making sure to scrape the bottom to include the crispy, charred layer of rice on the bottom of the skillet. Do not hog all the soccarat for yourself, as much as you will want to. Serve with the lemon wedges.