In the temperamental cuisine of Spain, gazpacho is perhaps the most famous tomato soup. Its origin is Andalucía. There is not just one recipe for its preparation. Every cook in Spain cooks differently, but all recipes are unified by a tomato foundation.
Traditional for the Spanish kitchen table are the meat delicacies jamon and chorizo. An inseparable part of this delicious cuisine is seafood. The Spanish love their seafood - octopus, mussels and shrimp.
Among appetizers, tapas are the most popular - these are all kinds of bites and small vegetable or meat hors d'oeuvres. The varieties can be either hot or cold.
Tortillas are also quite popular in Spain - thin pitas used to wrap meat and vegetables.
But the one thing that Spanish cuisine cannot exist without is paella. This dish is known throughout the world. Essentially, it is a hot mixture of rice and different additives. These can be seafood, meat, vegetables, spices and all kinds of other ingredients.
To make paella with seafood you need 2 4/5 cups of rice, 2-3 tomatoes, 2/5 cup of olive oil, 1 green pepper, 1 tsp saffron, 8 1/3 cups of water, 10.5 oz of squid, 1 red pepper, 17.5 oz of shrimp, 1 garlic clove, 21 oz of mussels, 1 2/3 cups of canned peas, 1 onion head, parsley and salt.
Boil the shrimp in salted water. In a separate pot, boil the mussels. Combine both broths and add saffron. In a large, deep saucepan, heat the olive oil and add in the finely chopped onions and garlic.
Peel the tomatoes and dice them finely. Cut up the green pepper and place everything in the saucepan. Add in the squid and boil everything until the liquid is reduced.
Then pour in the rice and boil for 5 - 10 min. Pour the broth over it and once it comes to a boil, leave on low heat for 20 min, while stirring, and if necessary, pour in more broth.
Put in the shrimp 5 min. before the rice is ready. Separately, cut the red pepper and parsley and throw them into the paella.
Also add in the peas and mussels once the rice is cooked and removed from the heat. Cover the entire paella with aluminum foil to steam and after 5 - 10 min, it is ready to serve.
