You may notice that from my recipes on this blog that I’m not a big fish-eater, however not wanting to limit my taste-buds I like to include prawns in some of my favourite recipes. This paella is again very simple, great for a crowd and guarantees full stomachs.
Top tip: Make a large batch, as this can be kept in the fridge allowing the flavours to infuse, making leftovers even tastier than the original!
Serves 5-6
INGREDIENTS:
Chicken Breast – 4
Peeled King Prawns (cooked) – 1 packet minimum
Arborio Risotto Rice – 500g
Flat Leaf Parsley (fresh) – 2 chopped handfuls
Onion – large
Cherry Tomatoes – 2 handfuls
Chicken Stock – 2 stock cubes in 1 litre boiled water
White Wine – 200ml roughly
Garlic – 4 cloves
Chorizo sausage (cooked)
Peppers (red & yellow) – 2
Olive Oil – 2 tbsp
Paprika – 1 tsp
Saffron – 3-4 strands
Chili Flakes – 1 pinch
Lemon (3 tsp juice or half a lemon)
1. Remove excess fat from the chicken breasts, then dice the chicken into 2cm chunks. Cube the chorizo into 1cm pieces (don’t use sliced chorizo – it’s not as good!).
2. Core and slice the peppers into strips, and dice up the onion, and remove the garlic skins from your garlic cloves.
3. Heat the oil in a non-stick wok pan (if you have a paella pan – perfect!), and stir fry the chicken until cooked through.
4. Add the diced onion to the remaining oil, and cook until softened. Now add the chorizo cubes, crushed garlic, and the paprika. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Now add the strips of peppers, and fry for another 2 minutes.
5. Add the Arborio rice to the mixture, and stir fry until the kernels seem a little transparent.
6. Lower the heat, and add the white wine to cover the rice, with just enough liquid to see it bubbling through. At this point you can add the saffron strands. Let simmer until the liquid reduces out of sight.
7. Add some chicken stock to cover the rice, and reduce down again. Don’t add all of the stock at once, this is a very slow process of watching the stock reduce, and then adding more to create the correct consistency in the rice. (If you run out of stock, and the required consistency hasn’t quite been reached keep adding boiled water). At this point you can add the cooked prawns and chicken.
8. Whilst reducing the mixture, and creating the correct consistency, keep tasting the dish – but also add chili, salt & pepper to flavour.
9. The last step is to add in halved cherry tomatoes to heat through, and then the handfuls of chopped parsley. Finally squeeze the lemon juice all over and stir through.
Serve in a bowl, with a slice of lemon on the side, and a glass of chilled white wine!
