Erin, I love chorizo in Paella but you can leave it out. This is a tried and true recipe that I have made often over the years. Just adjust it to your taste leaving out the pork and the chorizo.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Paella A La Valenciana
======================
From:Penelope Casas: The Foods and Wines of Spain.
Chicken and Seafood Paella

6 cups very strong chicken broth, preferably homemade
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1 small onion peeled
2 small chicken or chicken pieces
salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 pound Chorizo sauces cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 large pork chop, boned and diced
1/4 pound piece of cured ham, diced
1 medium onion chopped
4 green onions chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 pimientos, homemade or bottled, diced
1 pound small or medium shrimp shelled
2 small lobsters, divided into tail sections and claws
or 4 lobster tails, split lengthwise, or 8 king crab claws or 8 jumbo shrimp in their shells
3 cups short-grain rice
5 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 pound fresh or frozen peas
18 clams, cleaned
18 mussels, srubbed
Lemon Wedges for garnish
Chopped Parsley for Garnish
. Heat the broth with the saffron and the whole onion. Cover and simmer
15 minutes.

Remove onion from broth - you neeed exactly 5 1/2 cups of broth.

Cut chicken into small serving pieces - whole breasts cut into 4 parts
and each thigh into 2 parts, the bony tip of the leg chopped off, the
wing tip discarded and the rest of the wings separated into two parts.
Dry pieces well and sprinkle with salt. In a metal paella pan, with
about a 15 inch base, heat the oil. Add the chicken pieces and fry over
high heat until golden. Remove to a warm platter. Add the chorizo,
pork and ham to the pan and stir fry about 10 minutes. Add the chopped
oinion, green onions, garlic and pimientos and saute until the onion is
wilted. Add the srimp and teh lobster and saute about 3 mintues more,
or until the shrimp and lobster barely turn pink (the lobsters will
cook more in the oven). Remove the shrimp and the lobster to the
platter with the chicken. Add the rice to the pan and stir to coat it
well with the oil. Sprinkle in the 5 tablespoons chopped parsley and
the crumbled bay leaves. (Make in advance up to this point).

Stir in the chicken broth, boiling hot, the wine, lemon juice and peas.
Salt to taste. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered and stirring
occasionally, over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes. Bury the
shrimp and the chicken in the rice. Add the clams and the mussels,
pusing them into the rice with the edge that will open facing up.
Decorate the paella with the lobster pieces, then bake at 325F
uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit on top of
the stove, lightly covered with foil for about 10 minutes. To serve ,
decorate with lemon wedges and chopped parsley.

Servings: 4

Exported from Home Cookin 5.2b (www.mountain-software.com)

This is a wonderful if not truly traditional recipe for paella that we really love. I've made it several times and always get rave reviews. You can certainly leave out the sausage if you want, but I rather enjoy the flavor it adds.

Alexa

What do you think I should substitute for the meat in the recipe? I know I can add more shrimp, but should I add halibut or something like that to the mix?

Just add more chicken or seafood, (Shrimp, Clams, Mussels, etc.)

Ann