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3 tablespoons olive oil

½ pound meat, like boneless chicken thighs, chorizo or pork, cut into 1-inch pieces (optional)

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 cups short-grain rice, such as Bomba, Calasparra, Calrose or Arborio

1 pinch of saffron threads (optional)

3½ cups hot chicken, lobster or vegetable stock; water; wine; or a combination

½ pound seafood, like shrimp, mussels or squid

½ pound vegetables, like olives, tomatoes, snow peas or mushrooms

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1. Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add about ½ pound of meat, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until nicely browned. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until soft. (If you want a meatless paella, skip right to the onion.)

2. Add 2 cups rice and a pinch of saffron, if using, and cook, stirring, until shiny with olive oil. Add 3½ cups hot stock and stir until just combined, then stir in seafood or lay it on top of the rice. (Skip the seafood if you want vegetarian paella.)

3. Cook over medium-high heat, undisturbed. If the pan is too big for your burner, move it around a little; but otherwise, leave it alone. About halfway through the cooking (about 10 minutes), add any vegetables, taste and season with salt and pepper, and stir gently, just once. When the mixture starts to dry out, begin tasting the rice. If the rice seems quite tough, add another ½ cup or so of liquid. And if you can smell the bottom starting to burn, lower the heat a bit.

4. The rice is done when tender and still a bit moist; if the mixture has stuck to the bottom of the pan, congratulations: you have socarrat, a characteristic of good paella. Serve the paella in the pan, in the middle of the table, and dinner guests — up to six — should fight over it.

Notes:

The technique for paella is pretty straightforward: Unlike with risotto, paella is hardly stirred or not at all. And equally unlike with risotto (but very much as with Persian tahdig), you want a brown bottom, which is called socarrat, the sign of a good paella. This can be a matter of chance. But the likelihood increases if you keep the heat relatively high, turning it down only when you smell a little scorching. (That won’t ruin the dish as long as you catch it in time.) Perhaps the best thing about this recipe is that it is delightfully adaptable: Add whatever meat, seafood, vegetable or seasoning that sounds good to you.

Reader Comments:

Reader 1:

I was taught that the foundation of a good paella is a good sofrito -- made of chopped tomato, onion and garlic and seasoned with smoked paprika, it forms the basis for much Spanish cooking. I think that's a good addition here if you have the time. I make it in the pan before adding anything else. The dish turns out better if the liquid is very hot before it is added to the rice. Also, I've noticed the overall taste improves if the broth is "as salty as the sea," as one paella expert told me!

Reader 2:

Prepare sofrito first:

1cup diced tomatoes with juice (from can), 1 med to leg white onion, 3-4 garlic cloves, 1 red bell pepper.

After done sautéing add 1 teas of Spanish smoked paprika

Well heat 2 cups of chicken before adding to rice.

Add ½ cup of white wine

Use Bomba rice or Calrosa rice.

Don’t add seafood until last five minutes.