When I have made paella, I have always had trouble getting all the rice on the top layer fully hydrated and cooked.  That is one reason why I have liked making Portuguese Seafood Rice which is soupier than Spanish paella.

I recently saw a Bon Appetit article called “Cheater’s Paella”, which advocated cooking paella with the technique used for fried rice.  This is what I did last night with good success using the technique from Easy Fried Rice.  I made 2 servings

I made the rice early in the day in my rice cooker with saffron.  The smallest size my rice cooker can make is 2 x 180 ml (~3/4 cup) of rice, which makes 4 servings for Carol and me.  Thus, I used half of the cooked rice.

Cooked rice (from 180 ml of raw rice)

8 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined, cut into 1-inch pieces (save the shells for broth)

2 Tbs. olive oil, divided

1 oz. diced Spanish chorizo

4 oz. diced onions

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp. smoked paprika

½ tsp. salt

2.5 oz. green peas (or sugar snap peas cut into 1-inch secionts)

2 tsp. tomato paste

3.5 oz. roasted red peppers

1/3 cup white wine

Lemon wedges for serving

Have everything prepped and ready before starting cooking.  This will go fast.

Put the shrimp shells in a small saucepan with the wine.  Cook over medium heat 1-2 minutes until the shells are pink.  Drain the shells reserving the liquid.  Put the liquid into a small bowl with the tomato paste.

In another small bowl, but the garlic, salt and paprika.

Heat a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add ½ Tbs. of olive oil.  When hot add half of the rice and fry for about 2 minutes, breaking up any clumps.  Remove the fried rice to a plate.

Put another ½ Tbs. of olive oil in the skillet and fry the remaining rice, breaking up any clumps.  Return the first batch of rice to the pan and push all the rice to the edges of the pan.

Add the remaining 1 Tbs. of olive oil to the middle of the pan.  When hot, add the chorizo and onions and begin cooking them.  Add the garlic, salt and paprika on top of the onions, and then add the shrimp.  Cook, stirring from time to time until the onions are soft and the shrimp is pink.

Add the roasted red peppers, peas, and the wine and tomato paste.  Stir to mix everything together.  Cook until the peas are done.  Serve immediately with lemon wedges.