Spicy Shrimp Paella

There really isn’t anything like the fresh flavors of Latin cooking. Cilantro. Garlic. Peppers. Onions. It’s all just…so damn good.

Here’s a quick tutorial on how I whipped up my sofrito. It’s just blended veggies and garlic.

For a recipe, I just use 5 cloves of garlic. 1/2 onion. 1 bunch of cilantro. 1/2 bell pepper. 1 jalapeño. Salt. Pepper. About 1/3 cup of Canola oil. And blend until smooth.

Then, you use the sofrito to make this:

Here’s the recipe:

1 cup of sofrito (recipe above)

1 tablespoon of Canola oil

2 cups of Basmati rice

4 cups of seafood stock

1 teaspoon of smoked hot paprika

1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of ground rosemary

1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin

2 cups of frozen peas

1/2 pound of frozen shrimp

1 cup of roasted red peppers, cut into strips

chopped cilantro, to garnish

1.. Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Then, in a large skillet heat the oil. Once the oil is hot, add in the sofrito and cook about 60 seconds – stirring occasionally.

3. Next, add in the rice and stir well to evenly coat with the sofrito mixture. Cook for about 3-4 minutes or until the rice is light golden in color.

4. Season the rice mixture with the paprika, salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic powder, ground rosemary, and ground cumin. Then, add in the seafood stock and stir.

5. Once all the liquid has just about cooked out, add in the roasted red peppers, frozen peas, and frozen shrimp. Stir well. Then, put the whole dish in the oven to cook for 15-20 minutes.

6. Remove from the oven and garnish with chopped cilantro.