Traditional paella valenciana: the original recipe with chicken, rabbit, green beans and saffron

Paella was born in the rice fields of the Albufera, near Valencia, as farmhands' lunch: rice cooked outdoors, in the wide shallow pan that gives the dish its name, with whatever was at hand, rabbit, chicken, green beans, snails and a handful of beans. Seafood is a coastal addition, and a true Valencian can argue for hours to defend that real paella takes neither chorizo nor shrimp.

In 2021 the recipe even got an official definition from the Designation of Origin, which sets the ten essential ingredients: rice, chicken, rabbit, ferradura (flat green beans), garrofón (large white beans), tomato, olive oil, water, salt and saffron. Rosemary, artichoke and snails are the permitted additions.

What separates a good paella from a great one is the wide flame, which cooks the whole pan at once, the rice that absorbs the broth without being stirred and the socarrat, the caramelized crust that forms on the bottom in the last minutes. On a home stove, a large burner and a 40 cm paellera come close.

Recipe card

• Origin: Valencia, Spain
• Category: Main course, rice
• Difficulty: Medium
• Preparation time: 30 minutes
• Cooking time: 1 hour
• Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 600 g bomba rice or other short-grain rice (arborio works)
• 700 g chicken (thighs and drumsticks) in small pieces
• 500 g rabbit in pieces (or more chicken)
• 250 g flat green beans cut into 4 cm pieces
• 200 g cooked large white beans (garrofón or lima beans)
• 2 ripe tomatoes, grated
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 generous pinch of saffron threads (or 1 teaspoon powdered saffron)
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1.8 liters hot water (3 times the volume of rice)
• Salt to taste
• Lemon wedges to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in the paellera over medium-high heat and salt the meats. Brown the chicken and rabbit in batches, without crowding, for about 15 minutes, until well toasted.
2. Push the meats to the edge and sauté the green beans in the center for 3 minutes.
3. Add the grated tomato, stir and cook until it dries out and darkens a little.
4. Add the paprika, stir for 10 seconds and immediately pour in the hot water so it does not burn.
5. Add the beans, the saffron and the rosemary, adjust the salt (the broth should be slightly salty) and let it boil for 15 minutes so the broth gains flavor.
6. Remove the rosemary, raise the heat and scatter the rice in a cross across the pan, spreading it with a spoon. From here on, do not stir.
7. Cook over high heat for 8 minutes and then over medium-low for another 10, until the broth dries and the rice is done.
8. In the last 2 minutes, raise the heat to form the socarrat; you will hear a crackle at the bottom.
9. Turn off, cover with a clean cloth and let rest 5 minutes.
10. Bring the paellera to the table and serve with lemon wedges.

Tips and variations

• The layer of rice should be thin, a finger high at most: deep paella turns into risotto.
• On a small gas burner, rotate the pan from time to time to cook evenly.
• Seafood paella swaps the meats for squid, shrimp and mussels, and the water for fish stock.
• Bomba rice absorbs more liquid and forgives mistakes; with arborio, reduce the water to 2.5 times the volume.
• Do not use too much saffron: besides being expensive, it turns bitter.
• Leftovers become fried rice balls the next day.
• Never cover during cooking: the steam softens the grain.

Paella is a Sunday dish for the outdoors, made for many people to eat from the same pan, with a spoon each and the socarrat fought over tooth and nail. Make it calmly and without stirring, and the result speaks for itself.