Easy Paella

Never made paella before...Does the skillet go into the oven with or without a lid?

Delicious, and such an easy way to make paella. My entire family loved it. Replaced shrimp with 1 lb. frozen mixed seafood from Trader Joe's (shrimp, scallops, calamari) as well as a couple cubed chicken thighs seared with the onion. We eat brown rice so used my largest skillet and additional 2 cups broth, taking 25 extra minutes in the oven to absorb all the broth. The proteins cooked beautifully even with extra oven time. I plan to add eggplant/other veggies next time, as whim dictates.

Please answer the lid ? - do you put a lid on in the oven?

The problem here is putting the shrimp pieces into a 500 degree oven for 25 minutes. They become like rubber pellets with no flavor. Better to put them on top of the rice in the last 5 minutes. IMHO....

Do not cover the pan in the oven. And do not precook the rice.

This is an absolutely fantastic basic recipe. I've made many different paella recipes for forty years. The major difference is in the different meats, fish, and vegetables, you add. And of course you may also sprinkle with a white wine at the end. But the most important part is the basic recipe and this is it. If you do not begin it properly, then it will be mushy. And there is nothing you can do for mushy. Thank you so much for sharing this.

This is a great take on paella that is really adaptable. I beefed up the sofrito with chopped green pepper, celery, garlic, and tomatoes. In addition to the saffron, I added some hot smoked paprika and ras el hanout, as well as some andouille sausage. I used only 1.5 cup of rice (with 3 cups stock). I also added some quartered scallops to the chopped shrimp. The result was the classic paella flavor profile with a minimum of fuss. Leftovers were amazing!

This is a winner. Made it just as written; will tweak it next time. Would be good with peas added at the end. Have plans for using chicken, sausage, etc too.

Do you cover the pan before placing in the oven?

A cheap can of clams (with liquid) from the supermarket will add a wonderful flavor. Use the juice!

Shrimp, scallops, mussels and any other seafood requiring only a short cooking time are typically stirred in later when making paella on a grill or completely on a stove top rather than finishing in the oven. The general rule is to not stir the rice after initially adding it to the stock. You could pull it out of the oven and add your seafood on top in the last 5 to 10 minutes. The dish will be less suffused with seafood juices.

No garlic or chorizo?

Stupid question = do you cook the rice first?

if i were to add scallops or mussels, would the high oven temperature be too much for the seafood? i'd like to get it a little closer to your classic "seafood paella" vibe, but not sure if using the oven would limit that option. thoughts?

Nope, no need to cover. The rice absorbs the broth and then you want the top to dry out a bit and let the socarrat form on the edges and bottom, which I think would be hindered by steam being locked in. I'm not a paella expert, but just made it tonight without the lid and it came out perfectly. Good luck!