Alghero-style paella

Instructions

• 1 Begin by preparing all the ingredients. Clean and wash the mussels thoroughly, removing the beard and scrubbing the shells with a wire brush. Place them in a pan, cover, and cook until they open. Keep the cooking liquid—strain it and set it aside.
• 2 Peel and finely chop the onion. Clean the squid by removing the innards, eyes, beak, and cartilage, then peel and slice them into rings. Cut the chicken breast and bell peppers into small cubes. Remove the casing from the sausage and crumble it. Wash the tomatoes, cut them in half, remove the seeds, and dice them.
• 3 When all the ingredients are ready, heat a wide pan suitable for paella. Add the chopped onion and cook gently over low heat until soft and golden. Add the crumbled sausage and chicken cubes. Pour in a ladle of vegetable broth to prevent the mixture from burning, and stir well. After a few minutes, add the peppers, peas, and diced tomatoes.
• 4 Dissolve the saffron in a little broth and pour it into the pan, mixing well. Then add the fregola sarda, more than half of the broth, and the mussel cooking liquid. Cook the paella all’algherese for about 10 minutes, then add the squid and the remaining broth. After another 5 minutes, add the prawns. The total cooking time should be around 20 minutes (check the cooking time for the type of fregola you’re using).
• 5 When less than 5 minutes remain, add the mussels, arranging them neatly on top of the paella in a circular pattern. Once ready, turn off the heat, season with pepper, extra virgin olive oil, and grated mullet bottarga, and serve hot.