Paella

Having a weekday off is great, I think we all should have a 3 day weekend! But in England the weather is so miserable with the constant rain. The only thing we were able to do on such a gloomy day was grocery shopping, and even that was depressing, with the long queues at the check outs.

So to pick myself up I wanted to make a dish that reminded me of happier sunnier times. I went on a cruise a few years back in the middle of August to the mediterranean. In particular I loved visiting Valencia, Spain. Whilst we were there, Formula 1 was racing and the temperature was a high 32 degrees. How I have missed the hot sun beaming down on me. So to commemorate that holiday I decided to make Paella tonight.

Plus I had left over chicken stock from last nights dinner, so I might as well use it up.

I remember the Paella I ate in Valencia, in particular the black squid ink paella, it was out of this world. Unfortunately I was unable to get my hand on squid today, so I decided to improvise with what I had at home.

A Paella pan would have been handy in this instance but I had to settle with using a wok instead. It worked very well and the rice cooked just as evenly.

My B wanted a very meat filled rice dish so I used a larger quantity of chicken and chorizo in making this dish. However I prefer a seafood based Paella. I suppose it would make the dish cheaper by using less seafood in the dish.

Paella (Serves 3-4)

• 300g Paella rice
• 4 boneless chicken legs (cut into bite size pieces)
• 150g chorizo (sliced)
• 1 L chicken stock
• 4 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 onion (diced)
• 1 green pepper (diced)
• 2 tomatoes (diced)
• 1 large pack of mixed seafood (mixture of prawns, shrimps, mussels, etc.)
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• ground black pepper (to taste)
• parsley (to garnish)
• lemon wedges (to serve)

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan/wok to brown the chicken pieces. Set aside.

In the same pan/wok, fry the chorizo slices. Add the garlic and onion. Fry until softened. 

Add the tomato and green pepper. Fry until softened. Sprinkle the paprika and salt into the mixture. Stir to combine.

Pour in the paella rice, making sure it is evenly distributed in the pan/wok.

Pour in the chicken stock. Lay the chicken pieces back into the pan/wok.

Cover the pan/wok with a lid and leave to simmer on a low-medium heat for 10 minutes. 

After 10 minutes, lay the seafood around the surface of the rice and cover the lid again to leave for another 5-10 minutes. Make sure the rice is al dente and the stock is completely absorbed by the rice. Try not to agitate the rice too much whilst it is cooking. 

When ready to serve, sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges. Enjoy.