I saw Rick Stein make this dish on one of his programmes about the cooking of Spain. Although I had that book from the series, this recipe doesn’t feature in it so this is my take on it with a few of my own twists. This recipe will easily feed four or five people and is great sharing dish. When you buy your clams and prawns from the fishmonger, make sure you ask for some fish trimmings to make the stock. Bones from flat fish like lemon sole and plaice make great stock, they won’t usually charge you for them, it’s very easy to make and is the cornerstone of the flavour of the dish.

For the fish stock: 1kg of fish bones, such as lemon sole and plaice, I onion, 1 fennel bulb, 2 sticks of celery, 1 sprig of fresh thyme.

For the arroz verde

• 4 tbsp light olive oil
• 2 tbsps dry white wine
• 60g shallots, finely chopped
• 12 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 litre of fish stock (see above)
• 100g finely chopped curly parsley
• 1½ tsp salt
• 400g short-grain paella rice
• 30 raw clams, scrubbed
• 200g peeled raw King prawns
• Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon, quartered

To make…

• For the fish stock, put all the ingredients and 2½ litres of water in a large pan and simmer gently for 30 minutes with the lid on so that you don’t stink out your kitchen. Strain through a fine or muslin-lined sieve and discard the stock vegetables and fish bones. If not using immediately, leave to cool, then refrigerate or freeze.
• For the arroz verde, heat the oil in a 28–30cm shallow flameproof casserole over medium heat. Add the shallots and fry for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and fry for 40–60 seconds, then stir in the fish stock, white wine, parsley and salt and bring to the boil.
• Sprinkle in the rice, stir once, then leave to simmer vigorously over medium–high heat for 6 minutes. Put the clams and prawns on top and shake the pan briefly so they sink into the rice a little. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 12 minutes. Almost all the liquid should be absorbed and the rice should be pitted with small holes. Discard any clams that do not open after cooking. Serve immediately. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and black pepper. Let everyone have a section of lemon to squeeze over it.

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