Grilled Seafood Paella: A Feast Worth Mastering
Fire up your grill for this advanced-level masterpiece that serves 10 hungry adventurers. Packed with 893 calories per serving, 95g protein, and a symphony of seafood, it's a showstopper that'll have everyone raving. Total time: 2 hours 10 minutes (prep 30 min, rest 30 min, cook 1 hour 10 min). Nutritional info per 1/10th: Total Fat 44g (Saturated 13g), Carbs 26g (Fiber 3g, Sugars 5g), Cholesterol 422mg, Sodium 2689mg.
Ingredients
- One 3-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 cups chicken stock
- A generous pinch of saffron
- 2 pounds clams, cleaned
- 2 pounds mussels, debearded and cleaned
- 18 colossal shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails left on
- Two 2-pound lobsters, partially cooked in salted boiling water for about 12 minutes, well-drained and halved lengthwise
- 15 sea scallops, dried with paper towels
- 4 lemons, halved
- One large Spanish onion, finely diced
- 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 4 cups short-grain paella rice
- 1 pound Spanish chorizo (firm-soft hybrid), thinly sliced
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1 jar of piquillo peppers, chopped or thinly sliced (68 peppers)
- 1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Light several chimney starters with charcoal. Burn until gray-ashed, pile in the center of a large kettle grill, top with grate, cover, and preheat at least 30 minutes for that perfect smoky base.
- Brush chicken with canola oil, season generously with salt and pepper. Grill skin-side down on cooler edges, covered, until golden and nearly done12 min breasts, 15 min thighs/wings. Slice breasts into 3-4 pieces; rest on a sheet pan.
- Simmer chicken stock with saffron in a saucepan over hot grill or stovetop. Add clams, cover, cook 8-10 min till open; transfer to bowl. Add mussels, cover, 5 min till open; discard unopened. Keep that golden broth ready.
- Oil and season shrimp, lobster cuts, scallops, and lemon halves. Grill shrimp 1 min/side; lobster cut-side down 5 min till charred (keep claws/tails, ditch bodies); scallops 1 min/side; lemons cut-side 45 sec. Sheet-pan all for later glory.
- In paella pan over direct heat with 3 tbsp canola oil, soften onions, then garlic 1 min. Add chorizo; crisp 5 min for irresistible flavor.
- Toast rice few minutes, then ladle in saffron stock 1 cup at a time, stirring to al dente perfectionabout 25 minutes of smoky magic.
- Artfully nestle in chicken, clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, peas, lobster, and piquillos. Squeeze half the grilled lemons over top, tuck in the rest. Garnish with parsley, gently stir to scoop socarrat from the bottom, and serve this grill-kissed triumph immediately. Your table awaits the applause!
