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Red Paella with Scallops

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Makes 4 servings 1x

Time 50 minutes

Units Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/2 cups short-grain brown rice
  • 1 pound tomatoes, cut into thick wedges
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound sea scallops
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 2 cups fish or vegetable stock, or water, plus more as needed
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
  • Lemon wedges

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 450°F. Bring a medium pot of water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil. Stir in the rice, adjust the heat so that the water bubbles steadily, and cook undisturbed until the rice is plump and partially tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain well. Put the tomatoes in a medium bowl, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Toss gently.
  2. Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 10- or 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Pat the scallops dry with paper towels, add them to the pan, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the ­pepper; work in batches if necessary to avoid crowding the skillet. Cook, turning once, until the scallops are browned on both sides and just cooked through, 1 to 3 minutes per side depending on how thick they are. Transfer them to a plate.
  3. Put the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and paprika and cook until fragrant, no more than 1 minute. Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until it’s shiny, another 1 or 2 minutes. Carefully add the stock and stir until just combined.
  4. Put the tomatoes on top of the rice and drizzle with the juices that accumulated in the bottom of the bowl. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook undisturbed for 15 minutes. Test a kernel of rice. If it’s not quite tender and the pan looks too dry, add a small amount of stock and return it to the oven; if it’s not tender and the pan looks soupy, just return it to the oven. Check again in another 5 minutes.
  5. When the rice is ready, nestle the scallops in among the tomatoes, return the pan to the oven, and turn off the heat. Let the paella sit until the scallops are heated through, 2 or 3 minutes. Garnish with the parsley and serve with lemon wedges.

—Recipe from The VB6 Cookbook

Recipe variations

Red Paella with Scallops con Soccarrat You know those crisp bits of rice around the edge and bottom of the pan? This is how you get them: After the paella rests in Step 4, put the pan over high heat for a few minutes to develop a bit of a crust; adjust the heat so it sizzles but doesn’t burn, and stop the minute the paella starts to smell like toast.

Red Paella with Scallops and Chorizo Reduce the scallops to 12 ounces. Add 4 ounces chopped chorizo in Step 3 along with the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat releases and the chorizo browns a bit, then stir in the tomato paste and proceed with the recipe.

Curried Paella with Scallops It’s remarkable how one small switch can make such a difference. Substitute curry powder for the smoked paprika.