start by prepping everything ahead of time as it goes together quickly and is fun to make. I have a weber ranch grill which has a 37" top and use a somewhere around a 30" paella pan. A cast iron skillet can be used and it can be made on stove top just more fun on the grill. quantity of ingredients will vary depending on the size of the pan but here is what i use give or take.
8 to 10 chicken thighs (i use bone in skin on) salt and peppered and grilled so skin is crisp, 1 large onion diced, 24 jumbo shrimp shelled and deveined tails on or off up to you, 24 sea scallops, bag of costco lobster claws thawed, bag of costco mussels scrubbed and de-bearded, some clams if i fell like it, 1 lb thinly sliced Spanish chorizo, jar of piquillo peppers sliced, 4-5 cups of Bomba rice which will take 3 cups of broth per cup of rice and i use seafood Paella Aneto stock. large pinch of saffron, 6 to 10 finely chopped cloves of garlic, canola oil, salt and pepper,1 or 2 cups of frozen peas thawed, 6 or so lemons quartered and 4 halved. Drink of choice filled often.
heat of stock and add saffron when simmering add mussels and cook for about 5 minutes until they open, remove mussels and throw away any that didn't open, if using clams put them in the same stock and cook for about 10 minutes and do the same as mussels. keep stock warm
fire up the grill and grill seasoned thighs on a cooler side of grill so not to dry them out but get crisp skin remove and set the aside
heat pealla pan and when hot add canola oil and i just pour to cover bottom of pan 1/4 to 1/3 cup. When oil is shimmering add onion and when soft add garlic and stir well add chorizo and cook for about 5 minutes the Spanish chorizo will release oil and turn onion and garlic red, add rice and stir constantly for a few minutes and start adding stock 1 cup at a time and stir until all stock is added. then decision of socarrat (crust) and no crust. if socarrat don't stir beyond this point. it takes about 25 minutes to cook rice and during that time i grill the shrimp and scallops (salt and peppered) a minute or 2 on each side and start scattering them around around the 15 to 20 minute mark of rice cooking. same thing with lobster claws ( i do take the back of a knife and crack the claws and they stay on the grill a bit longer. now just scatter and kind of push into the rice all ingredients around to desired look at the end take the 4 halved lemons and squeeze juice around top with peas remove from grill when rice taste done and cover with foil and let rest for about 10 minutes. remove foil and place quartered lemons around the outside rim for color and available for people to use if desired. grab plates and enjoy. Sangria is a good drink of choice for this.
easy as can be just some prep work.
