How to make
The classic Spanish rice Caldoso (arroz caldoso) is a dish that can be defined as a slightly thicker soup or rice with broth.
To make this rice with mussels, it is important to use a variety of round grain rice that has the ability to absorb more liquid, keeping its core whole without swelling too much and absorbing all the soup from the dish. The ideal variety for this purpose is Bomba.
I used fresh Saint-Jacques mussels with shells. As a last resort, you can replace them with frozen, without shells. In this case - let them defrost.
If you choose my version with the fresh ones, open them and leave the attached coquilles to only one half of the shell.
Chop the onion, garlic, pepper and parsley and fry them for 4-5 minutes in olive oil.
Put the well-washed and cleaned mussels and large shrimp or langoustines, cook them under a lid for 8-10 minutes. If you have smaller shrimp, put them in at a later stage. This way they will be cooked by the steam and will release the aroma of the vegetable sofrito. The heat should not be strong, so that it does not burn the onions and peppers.
Remove the mussels and shrimp and add the wine to the sofrito. Cook with the lid open for 1 minute and pour the tomatoes with the paprika and saffron. Stir for a minute and pour the broth, which should be salted.
When the liquid boils, pour the rice and boil it for 11 minutes.
Meanwhile, separate the mussels from the shells and place them in the dish. Cook them for another 2 minutes and remove them from the heat. Add the peeled shrimp.
The delicious rice should remain in the pan al dente and in order to soften it a little more and for the flavors to settle, let it stand for 3-4 minutes before serving it.
In the recipe for Rice Caldoso with Saint-Jacques coquilles, precision is important, because with a longer wait, the broth will be absorbed and the dish will have a completely different look from the one in which it should be - tender but resistant to chewing rice wrapped in fragrant broth and sumptuous mussels.
