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Seafood paella with red mullet and prawns

Seafood paella with red mullet and prawns

Cooked as a 2-person cook-along (only its prep step survives). The full recipe below is the earlier 4-serving version, used for the page and slides until the cook-along is recovered.

Spanish · main

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Cooked version: 2 people, 24 cm pan (prep step 1 of 11 only)

  • Heat about 450 ml lobster broth, steaming not boiling; keep about 150 ml extra warm in reserve.
  • Toast a pinch of saffron (about 50 mg) for about 10 seconds in a dry pan, crush it, and steep it in the hot broth.
  • Grate 1 ripe tomato and discard the skin.
  • Dice the morrón; finely dice ½ small red onion; mince 2–3 garlic cloves.
  • Pat the prawns and red mullet dry and season with salt.
  • Green beans ready; lemon in wedges.
  • Spices: sweet pimentón and salt only (no cumin or baharat).
  • Optional: a bay leaf in the broth; a pinch of hot pimentón or cayenne.
  • Steps 2–11: missing.

Ingredients (full version, serves 4)

Serves4 servings
  • 320 g bomba or Calasparra paella rice
  • 500 g red mullet (sultan ibrahim), scaled and gutted; fillet the bigger ones and keep the frames for stock
  • 400 g large shell-on shrimp or prawns
  • 60 ml olive oil, plus a splash for the stock
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 ripe tomatoes, grated (or 200 g passata)
  • 1 tsp sweet (or smoked) paprika
  • 1 pinch saffron threads
  • 1 l fish stock (fumet), hot
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced
  • 100 g green beans, trimmed (optional)
  • 1 lemon, in wedges
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Steps (full version)

  1. Fumet (20 min): peel the shrimp, keeping shells and heads. Sizzle the shells (and any mullet frames) in a splash of oil for 2 min, cover with water to make about 1 l, simmer, and strain. Drop the saffron into the hot stock to bloom.
  2. Sear (2 min): heat the 60 ml olive oil in the paella pan. Sear the shrimp about 30 seconds per side and remove. Lightly sear the mullet fillets and remove. They finish later.
  3. Sofrito (10 min): in the same oil, soften the onion, garlic, red pepper and green beans. Add the tomatoes and paprika and cook down until jammy.
  4. Toast the rice (2 min): stir in the rice for 1–2 min so every grain is coated.
  5. Stock, then don't stir (18 min): pour in the hot saffron stock and the salt. Spread the rice evenly and don't stir again. Cook on medium-high about 10 min, then lower the heat for about 8 min, until the liquid is nearly gone.
  6. Seafood on top (5 min): in the last 5 minutes, nestle the shrimp and mullet on top to finish in the steam.
  7. Socarrat and rest (5 min): turn the heat up for 30–60 seconds to form the crispy bottom (listen for crackling, smell toasty, not burnt). Cover and rest off the heat for 5 min. Garnish with the parsley and lemon.

Notes

  • Red mullet is delicate and bony: a topping, never stirred in.
  • The shrimp shells are what make the stock.
  • Use a wide, shallow pan; don't rinse the rice; don't stir once the stock is in.

Variations (ideas only)

  • Ñora in the sofrito: soak about 15 min in warm water, scrape out the pulp
  • Roasted morrón or piquillo strips laid on top at the end
  • Marisco paella with mussels and clams

Source: https://claude.ai/chat/ce757238-8173-4c46-b03e-bbd86193c409 (Jun 19, 2026) and paella-cookalong.pdf