Paella

I love a good hearty meal which I can share with my family & friends and I think that Paella is definitely one of the top five on my list of good meals to share so I figured I’d post a good recipe so you can share it with your loved ones too.

Ingredients

½ Cup (125ml) Olive oil

1 Packet (about 300g) Chicken thighs, halved at the joint

1 Onion, chopped

1 Red pepper, sliced

3 Garlic cloves, chopped

1 Tbsp (15ml) Tomatoe paste

2 Cans (410g each)  Whole peeled tomatoes

5 Cups (1.25L) Good quality vegetable stock

2 Cups (500ml) Arborio rice

½ Tbsp (8ml) Smoked paprika

Salt & pepper

300g Mussles, cleaned & debearded and/or 12 whole king prawns, devained

½ Cup (125ml) frozen peas

Lemon wedges to serve

Nice to have:

1/3 link (150g) Chorizo, thinly sliced

Large pinch of Saffron threads

Method

1.    Heat a paella or large pan over a low heat. Add 2 Tbsp oil and brown the chicken, remove and set aside.

2.    Add 3 Tbsp of oil, saute onions and pepper to soften.

3.    Add garlic (and chorizo, if usuing) and fry for a minute or so. Stir through tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes more.

4.    Add tomatoes and cook over a medium heat until slightly reduced. Remove from pan and set aside.

5.    Bring stock (and Saffron, if using) to the boil in a seperate saucepan. Heat the remaining oil in paella pan and stir-fry rice, paprika and a pinch of salt until well coated.

6.    Return onion mixture to pan and stir through rice. Add stock and bring to a boil

7.    Scatter over chicken and mussles and/or prawns.

8.    Cover with foil and reduce heat to a low simer. Scrape the base of pan from time to time, but do not stir.

9.    Add peas and simmer for 7 minutes more. Season to taste. Rice should be firm and a slight crust should have formed at the base of the paella.

10. Rest for 5 minutes and serve with lemon slices.

Serves 4-6

As you can see this recipe does require quite some preperation time but I think it will be well worth it in the end and I’m sure that your loved ones will appreciate every mouth full. Enjoy it!

Recipe taken from 'Fresh Living- Pick 'n pay' July 2016 Issue

S

Xoxo