Paella Valenciana by Leno Lattarulo. Photo: Supplied.
Melbourne chef Leno Lattarulo shares his recipe for The Worlds Best Paella (Outside of Spain).
Paella Valenciana (Serves 2)
This is the recipe for the tradition paella Valenciana .
This paella is quite unique as it origins date back many years.
Originally it was cooked by men only and only ever cooked on a Sunday.
As a peasant dish the ingredient list was simple and as you can imagine these ingredients were readily available on the land.
Recipe
- 250gm chicken thigh cut into 6-8 pieces
- 1/2 rabbit cut into 6-8 pieces
- 8 farmed garden snails or sea snails (optional)
- 1/4 cup Lima beans pre soaked
- 6 flat green beans cut into 3cm lengths
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1 large ripe tomato grated
- 1 cup Paella rice (Calaspero or Bomba rice)
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Spanish smoked paprika
- 4 cups chicken stock
Method
To a paella pan odd olive oil and brown the chicken and rabbit.
Add in green beans and lima beans.
Season with salt and paprika.
Add garlic and stir to avoid burning then add grated tomato to deglaze the pan followed by the chicken stock.
Bring to a simmer on high heat and add the snails.
Reduce liquid by 1/4 then add the rice evenly around the pan and reduce heat to low.
At this point you you should not disturb the rice so that you allow it to cook and form the much desired crust on the bottom of the pan.
Once the liquid has evaporated you will notice that the pan is then making a crackling sound.
This is the rice frying and the crust is now forming, this process will take a further 5 min on low but care needs to be taken to avoid burning.
