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The mallorquin paella mixtas is a lot different from paellas in other parts of Spain. This traditional Majorcan paella mixtas recipe is by my friend Antonia whose ancestors have been living in Inca, Mallorca for generations.
A lazy Sunday lunch with a traditional feast
We’re renting James and Antonia’s place in Inca in Mallorca aka Majorca for a few weeks this summer. It’s lovely, the rustic and the modern merging into a beautiful new character. I love the feel of being so far away from the town of Inca, even though it’s just on the other side of the road. Mind you, that’s a 40-minute walk though. Our second Sunday here, James and Antonia invite us to spend Sunday afternoon with them and their friends eating paella mixtas. Antonia and James’ sister Magdalena share with us the secret to their traditional paella recipe. We’ve eaten paella before, but to have it straight from the hands of a true Majorcan is awesome. Mallorquin paella mixtas, one more checkmark off my bucket list.
Cooking the Paella
Antonia starts cooking and sis and I get click happy, taking notes at the same time. And while she cooks Antonia tells us that this paella mallorca recipe is one of the popular Spanish food, and it’s right up there with the pescado frito, cordero asado, tapas, ensaimadas and more. The version she’s making is the paella mixtas.
When is paella eaten in Spain? Usually on Sundays. Why is paella eaten on Sundays? Because slow-cooked paella is one of those lazy dishes that allow you to enjoy the process instead of cooking in a hurry.
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Antonia starts off by chopping the conejo (rabbit), costillas de cerdo (pig ribs) and pollo (chicken) in chunks sized 2 to 3 inches each and heats them in an enormous pot called olla cocina. Well, it has to be enormous. She is cooking the Mallorcan paella for over a dozen people. 😊 If you’re a meat-lover, you’ll love this paella mixtas as much as you love honey roast gammon, rib-eyed steak, or spicy vindaloo.
After frying it for some time she adds in diced cebollas (onions) and tomates (tomatoes), and fries it for about 40 minutes. The aromas wafting from the pot molcajete make me want to reach in and eat the meat as is. But I wait…
Antonia then takes out the liver pieces from the molcajete and keep them aside in a molcajete (pronounced ‘mol-cah-hay-tay’), which is similar to the mortar and pestle used in many kitchens across the world, even ours. She then added in water followed by caldo de pollo (chicken stock) and guisantes verdes (green peas) and leaves it on the fire for another 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
The liver that was kept aside in the molcajete is ground to a paste with some garlic, dried parsley, and water, and set aside for later. While waiting for the broth to cook, we watch James and Magdalena shear a sheep and also play with a newborn lamb that’s just two days old.
Once the broth is ready, Antonia takes a paella (pronounced ‘pie-ay-ah’), which is also the name of the large pan that the paella is cooked in. She fries some king prawns or ‘gambas’ in olive oil and then keeps them aside.
Next Antonia fries about a kilogram of rice in oil, and cooks it for exactly 12 minutes. The 12 minutes is a very important factor. The same is reiterated by Magdalena who is cooking some paella for me without gambas(prawns) since I’m allergic.
They then add in the previously cooked ingredients.
This is followed by some azafrán (saffron), salt and red pepper pieces. This is followed by the liver paste that was left aside earlier.
After simmering for a little while the gambas are added back in along with some mejillones (mussels), and the paella is ready to be dished out.
Majorcan Paella Mixtas – Recipe By Native Majorcans
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Ingredients
- 1 Kilograms Rabbit Chopped in pieces
- 1 Kilograms Pork Ribs Chopped in pieces
- 1 Kilograms Chicken Chopped in pieces
- 5 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 8 Onions Diced
- 8 Tomatoes Diced
- 2 Litres Water
- 500 ml Chicken Stock
- 400 grams Green Peas
- 100 grams Liver Made to a paste
- 2 Tablespoon Dried Parsley Add to liver paste
- 3 Garlic Cloves or Garlic Flakes Add to liver paste
- 17 King Prawns
- 1.5 Kilograms Rice
- 8 Red Peppers Cut in pieces
- 1 Tablespoon Saffron
- 3 Tablespoon Salt
- 2 Kilograms Mussels
Instructions
- Chop the rabbit, pig ribs, and chicken into 2-inch to 3 inch chunk sized pieces. (Or by it chopped.)
- Fry the chicken, rabbit and pork ribs with oil in a huge pot over medium heat for about 15 minutes till browned.
- Dice the tomatoes and onions and add to the meat pieces and fry for another 40 minutes.
- Next, add water, chicken stock and the green peas and cook for another 40 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Grind liver pieces to a paste in a molcajete (mortar and pestle) with garlic, dried parsley and a little water and keep aside for later.
- Fry the king prawns in a paella with oil and keep aside in another dish for later.
- Fry the rice in oil in the same paella (flat pan) for 12 minutes.
- Then, add and stir in the meat and veggies that were cooked earlier with the broth.
- Stir well for a couple of minutes and then add the saffron, salt and red pepper pieces.
- Next, add in the liver paste that was made earlier and mix well.
- Let it simmer for a few minutes before adding the fried king prawns and mussels to the dish.
- And your Majorcan Paella Mixtas is ready to serve!
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Notes
- Dice the onions and tomatoes and keep ready while your meat is cooking.
- For the chicken stock, you can use a cube of chicken broth and a half-liter of water.
- Prepare the liver paste with garlic and parsley and keep ready while the meat is cooking.
- Fry the king prawns in a paella while the meat is cooking in another pan or pot.
- Fry the rice in the same paella pan after the prawns are cooked and kept aside.
- Cut the red pepper pieces and keep them ready before the rice is cooked.
- It may feel like 3 tablespoons of salt is a lot, but when you consider the amount of meat and seafood, it’s not really salty.
- This recipe had enough leftovers for the next day, you might want to cut all ingredient quantities in half.
- There are a lot of hands helping to cook this recipe together! Otherwise allocate more time!
Nutrition (Per Serving)
Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.
This printable recipe card is for home use only. For more recipes head over to AbbysHearth.comEnsaimadas and coffee
We enjoy a lovely long lunch with some Spanish wine and Martini, and we’re stuffed. But then Antonia’s friend has brought along some mouth-watering ensaimadas that are similar to pies.
The one was piña (pineapple) and guindas (cherries.) The one I loved more was made of nueces (walnuts) and had a plátano (banana) and caramelo (caramel) flavour. All this followed by the traditional café (coffee) with a little bit of sherry in it. Lush!
The conversation keeps going for quite some time after we’re done, all fuelled by Antonia’s lovely cooking. La comida era increíble! I’ll have to make sure to come back to Majorca and eat more of the lovely Spanish food again soon!
If you would like to book one of the rooms at their place, contact Jaume aka James at jaiancb@gmail.com and they’ll send you their Airbnb link. 😉 Tell them Aaron’s sister gave you their details, it might help. 😉
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I’m an East Indian foodie and travel blogger from Bombay, India. I love baking, cooking, and making wine at home. But I also love doing stuff around the house and spending time in the Word. You’ll find more info about me here!