Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Chicken & Chorizo Paella


Who doesn’t love a good Paella? With the warmer weather starting to show itself & memories of Spain I decided that last weekend would be a good time to make a big batch of paella with some inspiration & a recipe from the latest Gourmet Traveller Spanish Edition. I find that it’s a pretty simple dish to prepare, much easier than the time consuming risotto that requires constant stirring & ladling in of stock anyway. This recipe was a good one, feeding eight so I had to split it into 2 frypans as there was no way it would fit into my tiny paella dish. This of course means that I have some stashed away in the freezer for those nights I really don’t have time to cook, love cooking big like this which I find gets harder as summer comes along as most of the food I want to eat is simple & fresh, whereas food that is suitable to freeze, ie stews, heavy pasta dishes, etc is more stodgy winter food. So Paella fits both the freezer & summery bill – though it is still quite heavy the fact that it is Spanish means it definitely gets the thumbs up for warm nights. The overall result was delicious & cant wait to tuck in to the rest.

Paella

2 litres chicken stock
2 tspn saffron threads, toasted (no toasting from me)
2 tbsp olive oil
1.4kg chicken, cut into 8 pieces (or you could use thigh fillets as I did)
2 chorizo, cut into 2cm pieces
2 onions, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
6 vine ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded & finely chopped (or you could just chop & skip the peeling & seeding as I did)
400g Calasparra rice (Arborio also works)
2 tspn Spanish smoked sweet paprika
1 tbsn rosemary leaves, coarsely chopped
300g podded green peas
300g baby green beans, trimmed

Combine chicken stock & saffron in a large saucepan & bring to the boil, then simmer over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until saffron has infused & colored the stock.

Heat olive oil in a 38cm caldero (paella pan) or frying pan, add chicken & chorizo & cook, turning occasionally, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until golden, then remove from pan.

Add onion, garlic and capsicum & cook, stirring continuously, over medium heat for 5 minutes or until golden. Add tomato, cook for 3 minutes or until liquid evaporates, return chicken & chorizo to pan & pour over stock. Bring to the boil & cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is almost cooked through.

Add rice, paprika & rosemary, then season to taste with sea salt & freshly ground black pepper. Cook over medium heat, without stirring, for 5 minutes, then scatter with peas & beans & cook for another 15 minutes or until rice is tender & stock is absorbed. Stand for 10 minutes before serving.

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