The Table of My Ancestors: Week 16 (Spain)

To read the post that started it all, click here!

I could not finish my month of cooking Spanish food without making what is perhaps the most famous dish of the entire country: paella. I’ve made Instant Pot paella before, and it was absolutely delicious, but I really wanted to do the whole thing from scratch. To start, I learned that paella requires a specific type of rice, one that I had to make a special order for.

The next thing I learned is that there are a lot of variations of paella. Some with all seafood, some with only vegetables, some with sausage and chorizo — possibilities are literally endless. I opted to make mine with chicken, sausage, and shrimp, and used bell peppers, roma tomatoes, onion, and garlic for seasoning and vegetables.

The recipe I chose was pretty easy to follow, and after about 30 minutes of prep work and 45 minutes cooking time, I had this:

That, my friends, is a pan filled with bona fide paella, and it was absolutely scrumptious! I couldn’t believe how easy it was and how good it turned out. Though I’m saying adios to Spain for now, this is a dish I will definitely be making again.