Paella is a wonderful rice dish from Spain that is traditionally made with snails and wild rabbit. My palette can’t quite handle that so I have modified it to use Chicken and Prawns instead :)
A quick note about making your paella
The Pan
I have never been able to get good results making a paella in anything other than a proper paella pan. You can pick them up in varying sizes from
Simon Johnson,
Torres Spanish Deli or
Online.
A true paella pan is wide, round, and shallow and has splayed sides. It does not have a lid. It has two looped handles and may dip slightly in the middle so the oil can pool there for the preliminary sauteing. The shape of the pan helps ensure that the rice cooks in a thin layer.
The key is to maximize the amount of rice touching the bottom of the pan because that’s where the flavor lives. For that reason, paella pans grow in diameter rather than in height.
The Heat Source
The trick to making a perfect paella is to keep the heat even across the large surface of the pan. Coming into the warmer months one trick is to simply pop your paella pan onto the grill of your BBQ – just make sure you keep rotating it around to spread the heat evenly.
The Paprika
Don't skimp on the paprika and use dodgey stuff from the supermarket. Get the proper spanish stuff.
What you’ll need
This recipe serves 2 people but feel free to double it up
Olive Oil
1 chicken thigh fillet, cut in pieces
6 large green prawns, peeled and deveined (you can leave the heads on for presentation)
1/3 of a dried chorizo sliced
salt and pepper
1/2 brown onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 red capsicum and 1/2 green capsicum, diced
1 roma tomato, skinned and finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon saffron
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
500ml chicken stock
80g flat green beans, sliced into 1-2cm pieces
1 sprig rosemary
200g Calasparra rice (you can get this from your local deli)
1 lemon, cut into wedges
How to put it together
1. First, to de skin your tomato, fill a small saucepan with water and place over a high heat. Bring to the boil. Slice a thin “X” in the pointy end of your tomato and carefully place into the boiling water with a slotted spoon for 60 seconds. Remove and plunge into a bowl filled with iced water for 2 minutes. Be careful not to leave the tomato boil for too long otherwise it will turn bitter. Remove the tomato from the iced water and the skin should have blistered at the tip where you cut the X – you can now peel the skin off and finely chop.
2. Heat the paella pan over a medium heat and add 1-2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the diced chicken and chorizo. Season well with salt and pepper and cook until brown all over. Remove the chicken and chorizo to a bowl.
Now we will make the Sofrito – a slow cooked concentrated flavour base of onion, capsicum and tomato. It is important to cook for a good length of time as this removes the acidity, resulting in a smooth, sweet, concentrated sauce.
3. Add a little more olive oil to the pan and add the diced onion. Stir to coat and continue to cook until softened and golden (about 3-4 minutes).
4. Now add the garlic, cook for a couple of minutes then add the capsicum and cook five minutes more until lightly coloured and softened.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, season liberally with salt and pepper and cook slowly until the sofrito has reduced and there is no liquid left. This should take about 15 minutes.
6. Now add 50ml of water to the pan and continue to cook until all the liquid again has reduced. This should all take a further 30 minutes.
The result should be an intensely concentrated flavour and pulpy consistency. You can prepare it up to a day ahead.
Now to make the paella ...
7. Place the saffron in a small mixing bowl and add 2 tablespoons of hot water. Let it steep for 5-10 minutes so the water can turn a lovely golden colour.
8. Put the paella pan back on a medium heat. Add the chicken, chorizo and paprika and cook, stirring for a couple of minutes.
9. Add the chicken stock, beans and rosemary and bring to the boil.
10. Put in the saffron and sprinkle in the rice - bring to the boil.
11. VERY IMPORTANT – now that you have added all the ingredients, give it a good stir to combine, reduce heat to LOW and then DO NOT STIR IT AGAIN. Just let the paella sit :) Trust me, resist the urge to stir.
12. Place the prawns on top and push them down to make sure they are submerged in the rice mixture.
13. Cook the paella 15-18 minutes or until the rice is plump and almost soft - it should be a little resilient. Turn the heat to high and cook for a couple of minutes. Any remaining liquid will boil away and a crust will form on the bottom of the pan.
14. Remove from the heat and cover with a clean tea towel for 10 minutes, then uncover and leave to rest for another 5-10 minutes before serving.
15. Squeeze over the lemon juice and serve directly from the pan.
