Paella Party

For mum's birthday this year we had planned to go to a tapas restaurant however due to lockdown restrictions, we decided to bring a little bit of Spain to our bbq hut instead! Paella is a family favourite, we tend to just chuck in all the foods that we love including prawns, chicken, chorizo and muscles. There are many recipes for this dish out there, for example for a pescatarian version you could substitute the chicken and chorizo for scallops and calamari, so feel free to take out or add ingredients as you wish!

Paella Time🍤

Ingredients...

1 tbsp olive oil 

175g paella rice

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut in half

75g of chorizo cut into 5mm slices

1 packet of king prawns 

500g of muscles 

2 medium onions peeled and chopped

1 red, yellow and green pepper cut into 2 inch pieces

3 garlic cloves peeled and crushed

2 tsp smoked paprika 

2 pinches of saffron beads

1 bay leaf

1 litre of hot chicken stock, made with 1 chicken stock cube

lemon wedges for squeezing

Method...

1. Heat the oil in a paella pan or a shallow saucepan (ideally non stick) and place the pan over a medium heat.

2. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and fry for about 5 minutes until lightly coloured. Add the chorizo and cook for another 30 seconds, then transfer the chicken and chorizo to a large heatproof bowl.

3. Add the onions to the pan and fry gently for 4-5 minutes until lightly browned, then add the peppers and cook for another 2 minutes. Then you can stir in the garlic, smoked paprika, saffron, bay leaf and the rice and cook for about 2 minutes until the rice is glistening.

4. Return the chicken and chorizo to the pan and stir well. Then pour the chicken stock and season with back pepper. Cook for 12 minutes over a medium heat, stirring occasionally.

5. Tip the muscles into the partly cooked rice mixture and stir once more. Return to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes until most of the muscles have opened, stirring occasionally.

6. Scatter the prawns over the top of the paella and stir well, then cook for another 4-5 minutes until the prawns are cooked, the rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed-the prawns should be completely pink.

7. Can add a splash of water if paella begins to dry and serve with hot lemon wedges for squeezing. 

On The side.... 

Patatas Bravas🥔

To spice things up, we made a side dish of patatas bravas. FYI the name for this dish translates to brave potatoes because of the kick from the chilli. For this, all you need to do is boil some potatoes and finish them off by roasting them in the oven in some olive oil until crisp and golden. Once roasted, top them with a large dollop of tomato and chilli sauce from a jar. 

And the Result...

The whole family really enjoyed this dish, it is one we make quite often and is fun to experiment with using different ingredients.The patatas bravas complemented the paella nicely as the sauce added a bit of spice. A lot of paella recipes don't include the chorizo however I would highly recommend trying this as it adds a nice smokiness to the rice.