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Silvana Fleischacker

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Aug 2, 2024, 8:19:01 PM8/2/24

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The second one will be this squid ink paella. Not everyone will be a fan but I hope to convince the one or two naysayers in the group to learn to enjoy this sepia-rich dish, an ingredient that seems as divisive as anchovies. My squid-ink-averse husband became a convert with this recipe and I hope to attract more to my camp at the party.

I would venture to say that only a Valencian might frown at us calling this paella (when my husband and I traveled from Barcelona to the tip of the Valencian coastline no one corrected me when I used the term paella negra). The cooking vessel, method and most ingredients are the same between paella and arrs negre, the key difference being the squid ink. Others might also point out that because of the ink, socarrat, the coveted crispy rice at the bottom of the pan in paella, is usually absent from this dish.

You can harvest the ink from a squid yourself but easiest thing to do is to buy it. They are not available locally here in the Bay Area so I order squid ink online. I have ordered both on Amazon and LaTienda.com (where I also get my paella pans).

Squid ink is sold in jars or in small packets. To give you an idea, this recipe for two used five packets (at four grams each, about 1 tablespoon). This option would make more sense if squid ink is not something you see using all the time. However, buying in jars would be more economical and you can freeze the ink in smaller portions.

Par-cook the shrimp and calamari: using a 10-inch paella pan (or other similarly-sized pan) heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the shrimp and calamari, season with a pinch or two of salt and cook for about two minutes. Just until the shrimp begin to color. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Keep the heat at medium and add another tablespoon or two of olive oil if necessary. Add the onion, garlic and paprika, season with a pinch of salt and cook for about two minutes, careful not to let the garlic burn. When the onion is translucent add the tomato and hot red pepper paste (if using) and cook for another two minutes. You should see some color and caramelization in the paella pan. This is okay. Just watch your heat so nothing burns. Lower your heat if necessary.

Add the liquid (clam juice and stock or water) and about 3/4 of the seafood. Set aside a few pieces to decorate the top of the dish later. Stir everything together to evenly distribute the rice and seafood in the pan. Turn up the heat (about medium high) to bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook uncovered for about eight minutes or until the liquid has mostly been absorbed.

Lower the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the rice is done, about seven minutes. Three minutes before turning off the heat (about four minutes after covering the pan) arrange the remaining seafood on top of rice and cover again.

Hi, Ken. I have not tried this recipe for more than four people but yes, you should be able to scale up the ingredients accordingly. For the squid ink, however, you might not need 4x as much. I would suggest that eyeballing the amount, adding enough until you get the color desired. Hope this helps.