Paella

This is a huge favourite in our house, although we don't have it often because of how fatty chorizo is, and the because it contains pork, chicken and shellfish, to us, its an extravagant treat.

Serves 6
500g risotto rice
100g chorizo (1cm cubed)
2 chicken breasts (2cm cubed)
3 smoked bacon rashers or pancetta
1 red pepper chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 large onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic chopped
2 pinches of saffron
1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika
1 cup of frozen peas
600g fruit de mer (translation- fruit of the sea, which is a mixture of shellfish can be bought fresh and is widely available frozen)
2 litres of chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

• Heat a large heavy fry pan, I use my wok or my large cast iron skillet.
• Infuse the stock with the saffron.
• Add the chorizo to the dry hot pan and the fat should melt out of it. Once the fat has come out of the chorizo and it has started to crisp up remove from the pan and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.
• Do the same with the chicken as with the chorizo, fry until browned all over and cooked through and set aside with the chorizo.
• Fry the bacon and onion until softened, then add the peppers.
• Add the garlic, paprika and rice and fry for a minute then pour in half the stock.
• Cook and stir every now and then for 20 minutes adding stock if the pan gets dry.
• Once the rice is almost cooked, add the chicken and chorizo back into the pan and the rest of the stock.
• After another few minutes add the fruit de mer
• Once all the stock has been absorbed into the rice add the peas at the last minute and stir through.

This picture was taken just before all the stock has been absorbed:

I often leave out the chicken and/or the bacon, or add other vegetables in the picture you can see I've added courgette and some large shell on prawns.

Happy cooking

xoxo