Marcona-Crusted Paella Cakes

Paella ingredients (rice, seafood, chicken, peas, piquillo peppers) formed into a cake, coated with a breadcrumb and chopped Marcona almond mixture and fried in extra virgin olive oil from Spain.

Winner of the 2005 Student Second Prize

Submitted by Maria Cooper, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A student at the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute

Yields 18 - 3 ½ Inch Cakes

Ingredients

8 ounces raw chicken thigh meat, chopped
7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil from Spain
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 medium shrimp, peeled and cleaned
10 small clams, cleaned
10 medium mussels, cleaned and debearded
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons dry white wine
6 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon saffron
1cup finely chopped onion
2 cups Arborio rice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 piquillo peppers, chopped
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups Marcona almonds, ground to breadcrumb texture
2 tablespoons butter

Garnish

Lemon wedges
Sprigs of Italian parsley or 4 ounces spring salad greens

In a wide saucepan add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sauté chopped chicken for four minutes; add garlic and cook for 30 seconds more. Set aside. In same saucepan add 1 tablespoon olive oil and sauté shrimp until pink. Remove from heat and when cool chop shrimp.

Combine clams, mussels, 2 tablespoons white wine and ½ cup of chicken stock in saucepan and cook covered over medium heat, up to five minutes, until shells open, discard any unopened shells. When clams and mussels are cool enough to handle roughly chop. Strain any remaining mussel and clam liquid into chicken stock. Heat chicken stock with saffron until just simmering.

Lightly soften the chopped onion in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in the wide saucepan. Add rice and stir until well coated, add ½ cup white wine and stir until absorbed by rice. Add ½ cup of simmering chicken stock and stir rice until liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock this way until all the stock has absorbed and the rice is plump and tender, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat; fold in cooked chicken, seafood, piquillo peppers and peas, set aside to cool. When mixture is thoroughly cool mix in 2 eggs.

Set a 3 ½ inch floured biscuit cutter on wax paper; press a thin layer of ground almonds on the bottom, pat ½ cup rice mixture into cutter and then top with another thin layer of almonds. Remove cutter and repeat process.

In a heavy skillet or griddle, heat 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil and carefully add paella cakes. Cook for about four minutes on each side until golden brown. Add more butter and olive oil to pan as necessary to cook remaining cakes. Keep warm in oven until ready to serve.

Garnish with lemon, shrimp and parsley or serve on a bed of salad greens.