This authentic Valencian paella is the most traditional you’ll get as the recipe draws its roots from the home of paella itself – Valencia. It’s full of delicious flavour from the juices of the meat, the stock and deep, earthy saffron. Added to that this recipe is an incredibly easy example of one pot cooking. If you love a paella, you MUST give this a try!
As some of you know we visited Valencia back in September and as a result I felt that I had to put this recipe on the blog. During our trip to Albufera National Park, Dean and I found out that we had been cooking a paella TOTALLY WRONG for years. Our lovely Spanish tour guide actually laughed at us when we told her that we stood and stirred our paella! 😂
It turns out that we have been cooking ours more like a risotto, constantly watching and stirring it. According to Valencians, you should never stir a paella once all the ingredients are in your pan, although you may have to add some more stock as the rice can absorb it quite quickly.
A proper paella is cooked on an open fire in Spain, so once the rice goes in it doesn’t take long but they do a lot of preparation for their dishes by making fresh stock, so from start to finish it can take up to hour and half depending how many guests they have.
Even though paella is known worldwide as a popular Spanish dish they only tend to have them when there is a gathering with friends and family, they wouldn’t go to all that effort just for two for a midweek meal like we do. I suppose we cut corners by using shop bought stock but you can still make it really tasty!
One of the best bits of cooking a paella this way is you get crispy bits of rice stuck to the bottom of the pan. This is one of the best bits according to our tour guide and in Spain everyone fights over them at the end of the meal. They are very tasty and a nice way to finish your paella!
Being an authentic paella, this recipe contains rabbit. I’m sure that some of you may be thinking “No way, I can’t eat little Thumper!” and that’s totally fine, just use chicken thighs instead. However if you are feeling more adventurous then give it ago, you’ll be rewarded with meat that’s very tasty!
As a child I got brought up on it and I’ve always been very opened minded when it comes to trying different sorts of food. As they say though everyone is different and it would be boring if we all ate the same. You might have to visit your local butcher to get your hands on some rabbit though as you’re unlikely to find it in your local supermarket.
The beauty of paellas is that like risottos there are so many different types. What’s your favourite paella – I’d love to hear all about your ideas in the comment box below!
We had a great time in Valencia and tried some fantastic food, if you’d like to read about it and see some of our photos then click here.
Paella Pans
We must have been through at least three paella pans in the last five years but the one we have now is AMAZING. We’ve had stainless steel and non-stick ones but the enamel pans are by far the best. Once the paella is cooked you just soak them in hot soapy water for a while and any stuck on rice comes straight off. If you haven’t got a paella pan or need a new one then do yourself a favour and BUY THIS ONE! You won’t regret it.
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Authentic Valencian Paella
Ingredients
- 4 chicken drumsticks
- 1 rabbit prepared (leave legs whole, cut the rest into chunks)
- 260 g paella rice
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp rosemary
- 225 g flat green beans sliced diagonally
- 1 pinch saffon
- 750 ml chicken stock good quality fresh
- 150 g buttered beans
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp of oil on a high heat in your paella pan. Brown the rabbit and chicken. Turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Cook the meat for about 10-15 minutes so it’s not fully done but not too far off. Be careful not to overcook the rabbit. Take the meat out and put on a plate to one side.
- If you have a lot of fat in your paella pan then drain some of it out, heat your garlic paste through and add the paella rice, tomato purée, paprika and rosemary and give it a good stir.
- Add your saffron to the stock and give it a good stir. Pour the stock into the paella pan and then scatter your green beans. Add your meat back to the pan. Turn up the heat so it’s on medium-high and leave for 20 minutes. DO NOT STIR!
- Five minutes from the end scatter your butter beans onto the rice.
- When your 20 minutes are up try the rice to see if it’s nicely cooked.
- Serve and enjoy!
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