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Paella pan with browned chicken and rabbit and grated tomato reducing at the side

Sofrito for Valencian paella

Valencian paella sofrito: step-by-step recipe

The sofrito for Valencian paella is made in the paella pan itself: browned meat, tomato cooked slowly and the paprika last, taking care it doesn’t burn.

Traditional recipe

Yield
10 servings
Total time
8 min
Difficulty
Medium
Region
—
Xepep

Sofrito for Valencian paella

Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

Sofrito

  • 300 mlOlive oil
  • 2 kgChicken, jointed
  • 1 kgRabbit, jointed
  • 300 gRipe tomato
  • 100 gPepper (optional)
  • 6 gSweet paprika
  • to tasteSalt

Ingredients

    Recipe PDF (Yield base: 10 servings)

    Steps

    1. 1
      Heat 300 ml in the paella pan until it is very hot.
    2. 2
      Fry 2 kg and 1 kg until lightly browned.
    3. 3
      Peel, deseed and blend 300 g. You can also grate it, as other Valencian recipes do.
    4. 4
      Add the tomato with 100 g, if you are using it, and fry over a low heat until it loses its water.8 min
    5. 5
      When the sofrito is almost done, add a pinch of to taste, the meat and 6 g.
    6. 6
      Fry everything again, without letting the paprika burn, and cover straight away with the paella’s water.
    Ripe tomato grated on a box grater, with its skin

    Sofrito for Valencian paella is made in the paella pan itself, before the water goes in. It is browned meat, tomato cooked until it has no water left and a paprika that goes in at the last moment. What a sofrito is, and why this one has no onion, is explained in the entry for sofrito; here is how to make it, with quantities.

    A reference proportion

    The Turespaña recipe serves ten and sets the proportion: the tomato weighs a tenth of the meat and the paprika is just a pinch by comparison. Careful with the oil: the figure the source gives is for the whole paella, not just the sofrito. If you are cooking for fewer, the recipe card scales the quantities for you.

    The order

    Very hot oil, meat browned without hurrying, tomato over a low heat and paprika at the end. Turespaña blends the tomato and fries it for seven or eight minutes; the València Turisme recipe grates it and adds it after the meat and the vegetables. Grated or blended, what matters is that it is ripe tomato, peeled, without seeds, and that it loses its water. Don’t rush the meat: what sticks to the bottom of the pan is flavour for the stock and, later, for the socarrat, the toasted crust at the bottom.

    The mistake that makes it bitter

    The paprika. It goes in last, when the sofrito is almost done, and a burnt sofrito turns the whole dish bitter, as the glossary entry reminds us. Turespaña adds it with the meat and says to fry everything again “without letting it burn”: don’t walk away from the pan, and keep the water to hand so you can cover it straight away.

    And the other rices

    This sofrito is the one for Valencian paella. Arroz a banda, black rice and fideuà have their own, with ñora pepper, garlic or onion depending on the recipe. If what you are after is the onion-and-tomato sofregit, that is something else again: the Valencian standard dictionary says so and the glossary explains it.

    If there are 40 or more of you, we cook rice for groups live: see paella and show cooking.

    History and variations

    The sofrito for Valencian paella is not the onion-and-tomato *sofregit* defined by the Valencian standard dictionary: there is no onion here and the meat goes in before the tomato. What a sofrito is and how the two differ is explained in the glossary entry.

    Sofrito

    Tips

    Add the paprika at the end and keep an eye on it: Turespaña says to fry again without letting it burn. Sources

    Peel and deseed the tomato before blending it. Sources

    Get the oil properly hot before the meat goes in: the Turespaña recipe asks for it very hot. Sources

    Spoonful of sweet paprika falling onto the dark red sofrito

    Sofrito for Valencian paella

    Frequently asked questions

    How long should you fry the tomato for paella?

    According to Turespaña, the peeled, deseeded and blended tomato is fried over a low heat for about seven or eight minutes, along with the pepper if you use it. The clock doesn’t set the point: it has to have lost its water.

    When do you add the paprika to a paella?

    At the end of the sofrito, when the tomato is almost done, together with the meat and a pinch of salt. Turespaña insists on frying everything again without letting the paprika burn. Have it measured out before you start and the water within reach.

    Do you use the same sofrito for a fish or seafood rice?

    No. This is the one for Valencian paella, with meat, tomato and paprika. Fish and seafood rice dishes have their own: Alicante Turismo makes a salmorreta of ñora pepper, tomato, garlic and onion for its creamy rice with spiny lobster (langosta). Check the page for each rice.

    Sources

    Glossary terms

    Recipes