MY TWIST ON THE CLASSIC DISH – PAELLA

Paella is a Valencian rice dish, widely recognised as Spain’s national dish. The ingredients can vary but the thing that actually makes it Paella, is the cooking process. Sadly, we don’t have access to an open fire, nor did we need to make it in a dish large enough to feed a whole village but we did take care to keep the cooking process as authentic as possible!

You might notice that I have been quite vague with measurements and amounts, this is purely because I know that everyone will make this dish in massively varying portions.

Ingredients

• Chicken (1 small thigh / breast per person)
• King Prawns (small handful per person)
• Chorizo (Large handful)
• Onion (At least 1)
• Ramiro Pepper (At least 1) whole pepper)
• Peas (1 Cup)
• Paella Rice (1/2 cup per person)
• Smoked Paprika (1 teaspoon, but you can add more to taste)
• Cayenne Pepper (My little added extra, you don’t need much of this, just a pinch to give it a little extra kick!)
• Fresh Parsley (Handful, chopped)
• Fresh Coriander (Handful, chopped)
• Garlic (Between 2 and 4 cloves of garlic, depending on taste)
• Chicken Stock (2 x 600ml jugs)
• Saffron (Pinch)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large paella pan.
2. Whilst the pan is heating up, boil some water and make your chicken stock. Split into two jugs and infuse half the stock with saffron.
3. Now, add the diced chicken to the paella pan and cook for a few minutes.
4. Add in your chorizo, onion, garlic and ramiro pepper, sauté until vegetables are tender.
5. Add all the spices and salt.
6. Now add your rice (yep, before you add the stock). Stir all together and let the flavour absorb for a few minutes.
7. Now pour in your saffron infused stock. Stir and let cook for 20 minutes or so.
8. Now the rice should be more or less cooked, add in the rest of your stock plus the peas and prawns and fresh parsley and coriander.
9. Cook for a further 10 minutes on a high heat to allow the socarrat to form, this is a layer of toasted rice at the bottom of the pan that is essential to the making of paella.
10. As soon as you smell that scent of toasted rice, take the pan off the heat and leave it to sit for a further 5 minutes or so with a cloth over the top of the pan to allow any remaining stock to be absorbed.
11. Serve with a garnish of lime and enjoy!

As always, if you try this recipe make sure you snap a picture and share on instagram using the hashtag;

#breaktheloopxgetspeedofit

Hope you’re all having a great start to the week!