I love it. Catalan rice, “a la paella” (with a pan) or “arròs caldòs” (creamy rice).

I like to do it with a few ingredients:

• Rice, of course, from “Delta de l’Ebre”, a Catalan region at shout of my country. It’s the best rice of the world
• Prawns
• Monkfish
• Cuttlefish or squid or octopus, as you like
• Half an Onion
• Two red mature tomatoes
• Two garlic grains
• Olive oil
• Fish broth

Some people, mainly from València, says that using onion and tomato to cooking “paella” is a sin, but I like it, so I use them.

I don’t like to go in a hurry during the cooking process, so I like to prepare everything before start cooking.

1. Peel the prawns, save the meat for the end and reserve also separately the shell, heads and tails, that will enrich the stir-fry
2. Cut the cuttlefish or squid or octopus and the monkfish in small pieces, enough to put in mouth
3. Cut the half onion in small cubes (aprox 5 mm)
4. Peel the tomatoes, remove the peel and the seeds and crush it until a fine paste is left
5. Cut the garlic grains in very small cubes (aprox 1 to 2 mm)

You have two options for the fish broth, make it or buy it. If you buy it, search for a good manufacturer. Usually the good one is in glass bottle

The quantity of broth depends on the kind of rice. Usually, there is instruccions on the rice paquet. Except in the case of “bomba” rice, the usual is two parts of broth for each part of rice, in volume.

If you like the creamy rice (arròs caldòs), you must use three parts of broth for each part of rice, in volume.

6. In a stock pot, put some oil and get fire at maximum to heat it
7. When it’s hot, add the heads, shells and tails of prawns
8. Stir and crush to get the juice of shells and heads
9. When they have taken a little gold color (enrossit), take them out and reserve them. Make sure there are no solid remains left in the oil
10. Put the garlic on the pot and stir until they take a golden color, but make sure they do not toast because it will bitter
11. Add the onion and lower the fire to a little more than half
12. Add salt to “sweat” the onion and cover
13. From time to time, stir a bit, until onion become transparent
14. When onion gets transparent, add the tomato
15. Stirring and “crushing” the tomato to form stir fry with the tomato well smashed and integrated
16. Add the cuttlefish or squid or octopus
17. Stirring until they get well cooking, but with low fire because if it’s high they get hard
18. Add de rice and higher the fire a little
19. Stirring until the rice gets a gold color
20. Take the pot out of the fire, cover it with a kitchen cloth and wait for 5 minutes

This waiting time causes the rice rest and be ready for the next cooking, the real one

21. Retorn the pot to the fire and high the heat to maximum
22. Stirring to uncompact the rice
23. When hot, add all the broth and the monkfish
24. Stirring a little so that everything is integrated
25. Set the timer to count the recommended time for cooking the rice, minus 5 minutes

Now, we waiting

26. When the timer ends, add the meat of the prawns and stirring a moment to covered them completely
27. Set the timer to count the remaining 5 minutes
28. When the timer ends, take the pot out of the fire and cover it with a kitchen cloth
29. Wait for the recommended time to rest the rice after the cooking (usually 5 minutes)

And that’s all. You can made a lot of variants (as I do), as add “romesco” sauce in the middle of the cooking.

As an advice, it’s better to serve the plates with a little of “all-i-oli” sauce on the side