The long hot summers of Perth lend themselves to outdoor eating and one of the great dishes to cook on the BBQ is Paella, the spanish rice dish much added to by others including myself and the best thing is it goes well with wine and I have to admit it beer.
Having cooked a few this long hot summer I thought I would put my Paella recipe in writing and post with thoughts on wines that go well with paella and hot evenings.

Suitable for 6 people
Olive oil
8 cloves Garlic
100g Butter
1 Spanish Red Onion
1/3 cup Parsley
Thyme
Sage
1 Green Capsicum
1 Red Capsicum
500g Skinless Chicken Thighs
3 cups Arborio Rice
Pinch of Saffron
2 Tablespoons Paprika
6 Cups Chicken Stock
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
300g Squid Rings
300g Assorted Fish Pieces
1 Hot Salami
500g Whole King Prawns
300g Frozen Baby Peas
500g Mussels
500g Vongoles (Small Clams)
salt and pepper

Having once shared a house with a long standing friend who is a qualified Chef (Cookie), prep is always at the forefront of any cooking endeavor that I undertake, therefore a large number of bowls are required for prepped food.
Slice Hot Salami
Peel and finely chop garlic
Peel and finely chop onion
Finely chop parsley thyme and sage
Slice red and green capsicum
Dice chicken

Now to the first stage of cooking, this can be done inside on the stove, add the Hot Salami (I use this to add a bit of spice to the Paella without spicing up the whole dish) to a hot frypan and sauté off to give them a nice browned finish, set aside. Now pour half of the chicken stock into a large saucepan and the rest into a large bowl. Heat the saucepan until the stock boils add mussels and cook until shells open, they are now cooked, drain the liquid into the bowl with the rest of the stock and set aside, place mussels into a bowl, set aside and cover. At the same time heat the butter and half the garlic in a smaller saucepan, when butter is bubbling add the vongoles and cover, when shells open drain the liquid into the bowl of stock and place the vongoles into a bowl and cover. Prep is finished.

Now for the easy part, cooking the Paella on the BBQ, place your Paella dish onto the BBQ (you have a Paella dish don’t you, if not, go out and buy one, this recipe is only to be used in conjunction with an authentic Paella dish, even if this recipe is not authentic!). Add the oil once heated add the onions and balance of the garlic and simmer, then add Salt to taste and the chopped parsley, leave some aside to sprinkle over dish when you have finished cooking, thyme and sage, stir add the capsicum and chicken, stir until chicken is slightly browned. Now add rice, saffron and paprika, stir well and allow flavours to blend, now add the stock and diced tomatoes stir occasionally or whenever guests are watching, once this starts to simmer add the fish pieces and squid rings. Once the rice starts to expand add the whole prawns poking them into the rice if necessary and a bit  later add the peas. Now let it simmer without stirring as we want to create a thin crust of rice on the bottom of the pan. About 4 minutes from when the paella is cooked, pour the vongoles and mussels on top, sprinkle the remaining parsley over the dish and close the lid of the BBQ. All done, place the paella dish in the middle of the table with a couple of serving spoons and enjoy.

The flights of wine we have had with Paella will need to wait for a future post.

Part 2

Part 3

This recipe is based on, borrowed from, added to and indebted to the following two recipes.

Paella recipe by Carlos Lopez

Paella Recipe Bar Victoria Spain