Where Italy meets Spain

Seafood Pasta Paella

Paella is usually made with Arborio rice, but in this recipe I substituted the rice with pasta marrying Spain and Italy. Well, not really... There's a Valencian dish, Fideuà, which is basically the same thing. But with some minor revisions, I came up with this dish.

Saffron is the main ingredient in this dish and there's really no substitute for it's flavor but for color you can use annatto oil. I used Saffron oil by mixing the saffron with extra virgin Olive Oil.

Seafood Pasta Paella, serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. Saffron Oil

500 g. cooked pasta
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 1/2 cup chicken broth
12 mussels
200 g. shrimps (deveined, head off)
200 g. squid
1 cup peas
1 cup dry white wine
salt and chili flakes
lemon wedges

----------

Heat pan to medium high heat, add saffron oil. Sauté finely chopped onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes. 

Add chili flakes, prawns, mussels and squid and sauté for another 3-4 minutes, then deglaze with white wine. 

Add fresh pasta, dry peas and chicken stock. Cover for 2 minutes. Remove the lid, add salt to taste, toss. 


Finish it up with lemon wedges and parsley.