Crock Pot Paella

Crock Pot Paella

I love Paella and decided to try and perfect a crockpot version. There are many varieties of this Spanish dish that originated in Valencia. Traditionally it's cooked in a large pan outside over a wood fire, but it can certainly be cooked inside on the stove.

My inspiration for the crock pot was that it slow cooks and really lets the flavors meld. Back to the varieties.... I made 'Paella Mixta' which is is a combination of meat and seafood.; 'Valencia' is rabbit or chicken and 'de Mariscos'  is the all seafood version.

What worked great when I did this was slow cooking all the vegetables with the saffron and adding the shrimp and scallops at the last minute to cook without overcooking as I've experienced with paella in some restaurants. What didn't work so great was trying to cook the rice in the crock pot. It overcooked and while everything tasted great, it looked more like porridge than paella. -- thus there are no photos of the plated paella. (I will do it again and cook the rice separately and stir it in when time to serve. Assuming a better outcome, I'll update this post with a photo. If you try it first, feel free to send me a photo and I'll post it and credit you.

Saffron is the key seasoning in paella and is generally quite expensive to purchase. If you are in a supermarket, you can buy 'saffron threads' in the spice section in tiny test tubes set in a spice jar. One hundredth of an ounce will cost you close to $20, at Amazon you can purchase a gram (.035 ounces) for about the same cost. I have used both and see no difference in flavor or color. Since I will be cooking the rice separately in the future, I'll be adding the saffron to the rice when cooking rather than to the crock pot ingredients.

While Paella typically includes shellfish still in the shell, I deviated from that for this experiment in the hope that I might be able to use the recipe for buffet serving for a crowd. Instead of steaming clams and mussels in the shell along with shrimp and scallops, I used salad shrimp that would cook quickly and sea scallops chopped small to also cook quickly. The vegetable ingredients can also vary and in addition to onion, garlic and tomato, can include peas, celery, and sweet peppers. I used everything but the peas.

THE RECIPE:

1 lb chicken thighs cut into bite-sized chinks

3 cloves garlic minced

2T olive oil

1-2 C chopped onion

1C chopped celery

1C chopped tomato

1C chopped sweet pepper

1 can of diced tomatoes

1T Bay seasoning

1T Herb de Provence

1C rice to cook separately

2C water of broth

1T Saffron

1t Turmeric

1 lb combination of salad shrimp and / or chopped scallops

Salt and pepper to taste

Chicken onions and fresh tomatoes in the crock pot

add peppers and celery

add canned diced tomatoes

stir the turmeric and saffron into the water or broth

The paella is ready for the tice and seafood.

Place the olive oil, garlic,and chicken chunks in the bottom of the crock pot

Add the chopped fresh tomato and onion

Add the celery, peppers, and canned tomato

Add bay seasoning and herbs de Provence

Cover and cook on low until chicken is cooked and vegetables are tender

After the vegetables and chicken are cooked, combine the broth or water in a sauce pan with the saffron and turmeric and bring to a boil.

Add the rice and cook until liquid is absorbed

Transfer rice to crockpot and add shellfish and stir to combine

Give it a taste and add salt / pepper if it needs it

Let simmer for 5 minutes and it's ready to serve.