Introduction: Grilled Paella

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My mom loves to make paella for big gatherings and It's always delicious. This time we decided to do it on the grill and it was fantastic. The grill is the best way to get a nice brown crunchy bottom on the rice. We like to use chicken, chorizo, clams, shrimp, and mussels in ours, but some like to add other seafood like fish or squid.

Step 1: Ingredients

Meat:
6 boneless chicken thighs (seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, cayenne pepper, paprika, and 4 tbl olive oil)
1 doz clams (rinsed thoroughly)
1 doz mussels (rinsed thoroughly)
1 lb shrimp (peeled)
2 links chorizo sausage (sliced)

Sofrito:
2 medium sized onions (diced)
1 lb tomatoes (diced)
1 red pepper (diced)
1 green pepper (diced)
6 cloves garlic (minced)

Broth:
8 cups chicken broth
1 tsp saffron

Rice:
4 cups basmati rice

Step 2: Prepare Chicken, Sofrito, and Broth

Cut the chicken into large chunks, season chicken and brown both sides in olive oil and set aside.
Make the sofrito by browning onions in the oil left over from the chicken. Add peppers and cook until soft. Next add the garlic and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the sofrito until most of the fluid evaporates.
Meanwhile, heat up the chicken broth with saffron and set aside.

Step 3: Start Grilling

Preheat the grill to 350 with direct heat. Spread the basmati rice in your pan with sofrito. Add the chicken, broth, and chorizo then bring to a boil on the grill. Change grill burners to indirect heat maintaining 350 degrees (cover down). After 30 minutes, add the shrimp, clams, and mussels. Bake for another 30 minutes. Take the paella off the grill and cover for 10 minutes.

Step 4: Serve

Enjoy on its own or with a salad on the side!