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by Rick Stein from Rick Stein’s ‘Spain’ (Â鶹ԼÅÄ Books)

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There’s an awful lot of pressure around the best paellas.Ìý Basically, it’s a simple dish if cooked correctly.Ìý The only rule I utterly agree with is: Ìýnever eat a paella at night.Ìý They are far too filling.Ìý This is as good a seafood paella as you’ll find anywhere.Ìý

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Serves 6 - 8

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Prep time:Ìý 20 mins

Cooking time: 45 mins

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Ingredients

500g prepared medium-sized squid, cut into 3cm pieces

5 tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

150g shallot, finely chopped

1½ red peppers, seeded and chopped into 1cm pieces

1½ green peppers, seeded and chopped into 1cm pieces

1½ tsp pimentón picante (smoked hot Spanish paprika)

225g large raw peeled prawns

500g small clams, such as carpetshell, washed

600g short-grain paella rice, such as Calasparra

1 heaped tsp loosely packed saffron strands

1.5 litres fish stock

250g large mussels, cleaned

6–8 cooked langoustines or unpeeled cooked crevettes

Salt

Alioli, to serve (optional – see recipe below)

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Method

Dry the squid well on kitchen paper, season with salt and set to one side. Place a 40–50cm paella pan over 2 burners on a medium heat.

Add the oil and garlic and, as soon as the garlic begins to sizzle, add the shallot and fry for 5–6 mins until soft and sweet, turning the pan every few mins so that everything cooks evenly. You will need to do this throughout the cooking time.

Add the red and green peppers and pimentón, and fry for 5 mins until the peppers are just softened.

Stir in the squid and stir-fry for 3–4 mins until it becomes white and opaque.

Scatter the prawns and clams around the pan, add the rice and saffron, and stir everything together well.

Add the stock and 2½ tsps of salt and bring to the boil, stirring briefly to redistribute the ingredients around the pan.

Leave to simmer vigorously for 6 mins over a medium-high heat, but do not stir it any more, remembering to give the pan a turn every 2 mins.

Then reduce the heat to medium, arrange the mussels and langoustines or crevettes evenly around the pan and push them down slightly into the rice. Leave to cook for a further 14 mins, again without stirring, by which time all the liquid will have been absorbed and the surface of the rice should be pitted with small holes.

Turn off the heat, cover the pan with a clean tea towel and leave to rest for 5 mins before serving. Serve warm straight from the pan – with alioli, if, like me, you love it.

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Alioli

This is a punchy sauce, traditionally made from just olive oil and garlic, but an egg yolk is often added to make the mixture more stable.Ìý It is usually served with fish or stirred into fish stews but also goes well with rice dishes, grilled lamb and vegetables.

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Makes approx. 175ml

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Ingredients

4 unpeeled garlic cloves

½ tsp salt

1 medium egg yolk

175ml extra virgin olive oil

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Method

Put the garlic cloves onto a chopping board and crush them under the blade of a large knife.

Remove the papery skins, sprinkle the garlic with the salt and work into a smooth paste using the knife blade.Ìý

Scrape the garlic paste into a bowl and add the egg yolk.

Whisk everything together and then very gradually whisk in the olive oil to make a thick mayonnaise-like mixture.

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