Oyster Seafood Paella

Do you suck at shucking oysters? Me too.

But there’s a trick.

Throw them in the oven for 10 minutes at 350˚F and those little hinges release just enough to let you pry them apart with much less effort. They won’t open like clams or mussels when cooked, but the upside is they’ll stay raw and cool inside their thick shells.

So the trick to making this paella is to par-cook the rice, add the mussel and clam cooking juices with some additional fish or chicken broth, and toss it in the oven. Then, just 10 minutes before serving, add the oysters on top, and 5 minutes later, the shucked mussels and clams to warm them through.

The very best part of this method is you can snack on freshly steamed clams halfway through as a snack, when you realize you have far too many to cover the top of the paella…

Oyster Seafood Paella

Serves 6

1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 cups La Bomba rice (or arborio or carnaroli rice)
1 cup water

2 lbs mussels, cleaned (discard any that are chipped or don’t close tightly when squeezed)
2-4 lbs clams (Cherrystone, Littleneck and whatever else looks good)
6 oysters (or however many you want per person)

Pinch saffron
1 cup fish stock, chicken broth or water

2 tbsp chopped parley, for garnish
Optional herbs to accompany, such as parsley, Thai basil or cilantro

Heat the oil in a large overproof skillet on medium heat (or have a large casserole dish or baking pan ready to transfer the paella into later. When hot, add the onions, garlic and paprika and cook gentle for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, rice and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for ten minutes. Set aside.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil (about 1 1/2 cups of water. The pot needs to be able to hold all the clams). When boiling, add the mussels. Cover, return to a boil, then cook for 5 minutes, until the mussels open. Remove the mussels to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Discard any that don’t open.

Add the clams to the boiling liquid. Cover and boil 5 minutes, or until the clams open. The larger ones will take longer (maybe 5 minutes or so), so remove the clams as they open rather than overcooking the smaller ones while waiting for the larger ones to open. Remove with a slotted spoon and discard any clams that haven’t opened.

Add the saffron to the mussel- and clam-cooking liquid, then add to the rice along with the fish stock or chicken broth. Stir to combine then cover in aluminium foil and place in a preheated 350˚F oven for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, shuck the mussels and clams, reserving the meat and leaving a few un-shucked for presentation. When the rice has only 10 minutes left to bake, rinse the oysters, uncover the baking dish and place on top (with the larger side down. Bake 5 minutes, then quickly add the mussels and clams, trying not to let the oven lose too much heat. Bake 5 minutes more.

Remove from oven and pry open oysters from the hinges, being careful not to let the oyster juices spill. Use an oyster knife to scrape the flesh gently from the bottom and top of the oyster. Discard the top shell of the oyster. Place the other oyster half back on top of the paella dish.

Garnish with parsley and serve family-style, directly from the dish.