Paella

From Cook's Illustrated
.
Serves 6

This recipe is for making paella in a Dutch oven (at least 11 to 12 inches in diameter). It can also be made in a paella pan. If making in a paella pan, increase chicken broth to 3 1/4 cups and wine to 1/2 cup. Before placing paella pan in oven, cover it tightly with foil.

1 pound extra-large shrimp (21 to 25 per pound), peeled and deveined
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra as needed
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and halved crosswise
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch wide strips
8 ounces Spanish chorizo sausage, sliced 1/2 inch thick on bias
1 onion, chopped fine
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained, minced, and drained again
2 cups Valencia or Arboria rice
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
1 bay leaf
12 mussels, scrubbed and debearded
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 teaspoons fresh parsley
Lemon wedges

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss shrimp, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1 teaspoon garlic in medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until skin begins to blister and turn spotty black. 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer bell pepper to small plate and set aside. 
3. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in now-empty pan until shimmering. Add chicken pieces in a single layer and cook, without moving, until browned, about 3 minutes. Turn pieces and cook until browned on second side, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to medium bowl. Reduce heat to medium and add chorizo to pot. Cook, stirring frequently, until deeply browned and fat begins to render, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer chorizo to bowl with chicken and set aside.
4. Add enough oil to fat in pot to equal 2 tablespoons and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in remaining garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and cook until mixture begins to darken and thicken slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in rice and cook until grains are well coated with tomato mixture, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, wine, saffron, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Return chicken pieces and chorizo to pot, increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Cover pot (if using paella pan use foil to cover along with lid), transfer to oven, and cook until rice absorbs most of the liquid, about 15 minutes. Remove pot from oven. Uncover pot, scatter shrimp over rice, insert mussels, hinged side down, into rice (so they stand upright), arrange bell pepper strips in a pinwheel pattern, and scatter peas over top. Cover, return to oven, and cook until shrimp are opaque and mussels have opened, 10 to 12 minutes.
5. FOR SOCARRAT (a layer of brown, crusty rice): Set pot, uncovered, over medium-high heat or about 5-minutes, rotating pot/pan, 180 degrees after about 2 minutes for evening browning.
6. Let paella stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Discard any mussels that have not opened and bay leaf. Sprinkle with parsley and serve, passing lemon wedges separately.