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The first time I ever went to Spain I was so excited to have authentic Paella. I hate to say it, but I was kind of disappointed. It seemed to me to be a big ol' panful of rice with not a lot of much else. I needed a search party to help me find the seafood! This was my experience on several occasions, so upon my return home, I set to work to make up my own protein-lovers version of the dish. It became a favourite in our house for many years.
As my cooking and eating habits have progressed to a mainly Paleo regime, I have had to reinvent this dish once again to suit my taste buds, but I'm happy to report it's still a winner!
Don't eat seafood?? No problem. Change it to chicken.
De Nada!!
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (for frying)
- 16 medium prawns (peeled and cleaned)
- 200 grams calamari
- 500 grams mussels (cleaned)
- 150 grams chorizo, sliced
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 1 whole cauliflower
- 5 Roma tomatoes, deseeded and diced
- 1 red capsicum, diced
- 1 green capsicum, diced
- Clove of garlic
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Handful of chopped parsley
- Juice of half a lemon
- Black pepper to taste
- Cut your cauliflower into florets and whizz in your trusty food processor to break it down into rice-like pieces. This only takes a matter of seconds ( you may want to do it in a few batches so as not to overcrowd your processor bowl). Set aside.
- Prepare your seafood and set aside.
- Prepare all your vegetables and chorizo.
- Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large pan and fry off your chorizo slices. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Fry off the prawns and calamari in the lovely chorizo oil left in the pan until just cooked. Remove and set aside.
- Add another table spoon of oil to the same pan, lower heat, and add your onion and garlic, and cook, stirring until onion is soft.
- Add the capsicum and tomatoes and cook for a few minutes until the tomato becomes "pulpy".
- Add all the spices and stir through.
- Pour in the wine and stock and bring it to a simmer.
- Add in your cauliflower "rice" and tomato paste, and simmer on low for about 15 minutes.
- Throw in your mussels and cover, simmering for 5 minutes until they have opened and are cooked.
- At this point, the liquid should have reduced quite a lot.
- Throw your chorizo and the rest of the seafood back into the pot until everything is heated through.
- Discard any unopened mussels.
- Stir through the parsley and lemon juice and season with lots of freshly ground black pepper.
