Less-Fuss Paella Arrives in Time for Summer

Cookwork Perspective: Paella can be a simple but interesting addition to a summer menu.  Do you streamline cooking to make this a faster dish to serve?

Less-Fuss Paella Arrives in Time for Summer

PAELLA, the classic rice dish from Spain, is considered picnic food — a one-dish meal prepared over a fire at an outdoor party like our hamburger cookout. It is also cooked indoors, but always in a flat steel paellera or in an earthenware cazuela. The main rules are to cook the rice uncovered and, unlike risotto, not to stir once the simmering has begun.

It comes in so many variations; if you want to learn more about the process, consider the works of Penelope Casas, a wonderful cook and author who has written prolifically about Spanish cuisine, or Marimar Torres, whose cooking talents are well known at her famous California winery. And chef Seamus Mullen has revealed his method for paella on a New York rooftop in his new book.

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