I Made Paella For the First Time

This dish cooks fairly fast, maybe 30 minutes or so. The prep work is critical. I spent over an hour prepping the ingredients.

In this photo, chicken thighs, thin pork loin, shrimp, bomba rice, yellow onion, Rotel tomatoes(processed), garlic, yellow and red bell pepper (chopped and sliced,) salt, pepper, smoked paprika, green onion, white beans, whole green beans, olive oil, and finally in the short glass is the saffron that has been toasted, crumbled, and is blooming in some stock. Not pictured is some store bought chicken stock that is being heated.

I cooked mine over a charcoal fire to get the most surface area heat to mimic a paella burner, and give it some smokey flavor.

Only one in process pic. Things move very fast! Once I added the rice and veggies, I spread the coals to lower the heat. I covered it for about 5 minutes. I added stock one additional time.

The final product was very rich. It had a smokey tomato flavor. The rice was done with a crunchy socorat at the bottom. My wife disliked the dish, but she disliked paella she has in Spain, so no surprise there. I liked it. I would use less bell pepper the next time. The rotel was barely detectable with so many flavors going on.