One of my favorite foods (even before I visited Barcelona in 2017 and experienced the authentic version) is Seafood Paella. What is Paella (pie-yay-ya; the L’s are silent)? Paella is a Spanish rice dish made in one frying pan, originating from Valencia, on the eastern coast of Spain. It began as a peasant/laborer’s dish that is now popular all over Spain. It is rumored that paella actually comes from the Arabic root word “baqiya” meaning leftovers. However, linguists actually credit the name paella to the frying pan in which the dish is made, known in Spanish as la paella.
There are many different variations of Paella, but my favorite is seafood. I’m a seafood lover by nature. Give me a choice between a land-based meat and seafood, and I’ll pick seafood almost every time. Did you know that there’s a Catalan version of Paella made with pasta or vermicelli noodles? Yup! And it’s called Fideua.
Because paella is traditionally made with short grain arborio rice, using freekeh as a substitute doesn’t change the dish’s consistency. It does, however, add a nice smokey flavor to Seafood Paella — the natural smokey flavor of Freekeh. Don’t get overwhelmed with the ingredient list. I promise you paella is actually one of the easiest dishes to make. It looks and sounds complicated, but it’s simple and full of flavor.
Seafood Freekeh Paella
Ingredients
- 1 Large Onion cut into large pieces
- ½ cup Carrots, chopped into small pieces
- ½ cup frozen (or fresh) green peas
- 4 large cloves Garlic
- 1 ½ teaspoons shatta (Middle Eastern Red chili paste)
- ½ lb ground beef
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt, to taste
- 2 cups freekeh, skimmed and stones removed
- 2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups water
- 1 lb mixed seafood (calamari, white fish, crab, mussels
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- Juice from 2 lemons+ Lemon wedges (for serving)
Directions
- In a food processor, pulse the onions and garlic until finely chopped. Remove and set aside
- Next, pulse the ground beef with Shatta until finely ground and remove.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, heat vegetable oil and butter, add the ground beef mixture and stir until crispy.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat and set aside. Add in the ground onion/garlic mixture and stir until yellow.
- Add in the Bay leaf, carrots, peas and tomato paste
- Continue stirring until combined. And the carrots have softened.
- Add freekeh (and another teaspoon of butter, if needed) and stir until slightly toasted, about 2 minutes
- Stir in the ground beef, and the mixed seafood and salt and cover with 4 cups water
- Bring to a boil, then bring the heat to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
- Use a fork to fluff the freekeh, and carefully stir in juice from 2 lemons.
- Top with chopped parsley and lemon wedges.
