The paella of Valencia: chicken, rabbit, flat green beans and garrofó cooked in a wide pan with tomato, paprika and saffron, then round rice spread in a single layer and left unstirred until the water is gone and the bottom toasts into socarrat.
Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Rice section’s regional pages and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.
Ingredients
- 1 glass extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 chicken, chopped
- 1 rabbit, chopped
- 300 g fresh ferraura (flat green) beans
- 1 medium tomato, grated
- 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
- 6 glasses water
- 200 g garrofó (large lima) beans
- 3 glasses round rice (D.O. València bomba or senia)
- 1 sprig rosemary
- Saffron
- Salt, to taste
Directions
Key ingredients
- Brown. Heat the oil in the paella pan over low heat and brown the chicken and rabbit, about 5 minutes (longer is fine; some cooks take 20).
- Sofrito. Add the green beans and the grated tomato and fry to a sofrito.
- Paprika. Add the paprika and cook 1 minute on very low heat, then pour in the water at once so it does not burn.
- Broth. Add the saffron, garrofó and salt, and boil about 15 minutes.
- Rice. Distribute the rice evenly across the pan and do not stir it again. Boil about 15 minutes more, tasting the broth for salt.
- Rosemary. In the last 7–8 minutes, lay the rosemary on top for 5 minutes, then remove it.
- Finish. It is done when the water has evaporated but the rice is not dry. Give it a little longer over the heat for the socarrat, the toasted crust on the bottom.
Notes
Source Adapted from “Traditional Valencian Paella Recipe,” Visit València (the city’s official tourism body). It gives no chef, saying the best recipe is the family’s own.
On the measures The source measures in “glasses,” which are not defined; what matters is the ratio of two volumes of water to one of rice. Its method adds artichokes (in winter, in place of the green beans) that are not in its ingredient list; snails, duck and garlic are also accepted variants. A whole chicken and rabbit for four is generous. Pan size is not given; Saveur’s six-serving paella valenciana uses a 16–18-inch pan.
The rules The ten-ingredient standard for “paella valenciana” — oil, chicken, rabbit, ferraura, garrofó, tomato, water, salt, saffron and rice — is a 2011 Valencian certification scheme. Anything else is “paella de …”.
This kitchen Paella has been cooked in the kitchen this collection belongs to; this sourced recipe has not.
The Rice section’s Spain and Latin America page (/rice/spain-and-latin-america/) covers the history and technique behind this dish.