They tend to make it complicated but this is the lazy version
I watched the Spanish mother and son team on MKR last night, hoping to learn more secrets about this wonderful dish. Sadly, something went wrong for them.
Paella is a Spanish dish that uses more or less whatever ingredients you have handy or left over. There are seafood versions, chicken recipes with chorizo sausage and others with the kitchen sink thrown in. The photo is of the seafood version but I’ve had the most fun with the version that combines seafood, chicken and chorizos.
INGREDIENTS
The list looks long but there’s nothing fancy here, and preparation is easy.
Olive Oil, chicken stock, white wine
2 Spanish onions or 4 spring onions, coarsely chopped,
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tin of diced tomatoes
a few strands of saffron (don’t worry if it’s too hard to find)
1 tsp sweet paprika
fennel bulb (1 large or 2 small ones)
1 red capsicum, chopped
and a handful of green beans
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Rice – your choice of Calasparra, Arborio, Basmati (my favourite)
Chicken pieces – wings and drumsticks are best for flavour,
2 – 3 chorizos thick sliced,
large prawns, calamari cut into rings, some fish cut into large pieces (swordfish or tuna)
Alternative: use a good marinara mix
2 tbsp chopped parsley, rosemary, thyme, fennel seeds ((for the last 3 you can use dried herbs)
seasoning (I like lots of black pepper)
The Lazy Method
You need a big fry-pan to start with, then transfer to a casserole dish you can use on the stove.
- Fry the chicken pieces (or pre-bake in the oven) and thickly sliced chorizos until lightly brown
- Add onion, garlic, fennel, capsicum and beans cut into 7/8 cm lengths
- Add paprika, tinned tomatoes, white wine and chicken stock (cup of each)
- Stir gently, bring to the boil and let simmer while you add seasoning and herbs
Transfer everything to a big casserole dish or paella pan and bring back to simmer. Make sure there’s enough liquid for the rice but not too much. Taste and add seasoning and more herbs if necessary.
Add the rice, then simmer. The rice will take 18 minutes (for Basmati) and soak up a lot of the liquid. If you need to add more liquid, use more stock. After the rice has cooked for about 12 minutes, add the seafood and stir through. Add more stock if more liquid is needed, plus the finely chopped parsely.
The hardest trick is to end up with a dish that has very little liquid left but is not actually dry.
Kim