Paella with chicken, prawns and chorizo

This is a paella recipe to appeal to all, its a great social meal and a good excuse to gather your friends and family together to share it.
A lot of people are wary of too much seafood so I have forgone the mussels in favour of chorizo sausage but you can add want you like. I always use raw prawns because the pre-cooked ones turn chewy so quickly.

For a tasty vegetarian alternative use vegetable stock and add green beans and cashew nuts in place of the meat and fish.

Recipe (serves 4)


Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast cut into 2-3cm pieces
• 100g chorizo sausage, diced
• 16 prawns 
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, finely chopped
• 2 good handfuls of frozen peas or petit pois
• 350g paella rice
• 2 generous handfuls flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 sachet Paellero paella seasoning *
• 2 lemons, one juiced, and one cut into 8 wedges
• 2 litres chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 4 tbsp passata
• olive oil

Method

1. Sprinkle a little of the paella seasoning onto the chicken and mix to coat
2. Heat a good glug of olive oil in the pan the add the chorizo and chicken ad cook until crisp and the oil has taken on the flavour and colour of the chorizo
3. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside then add the onion, garlic and pepper, cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is translucent. Season with salt and pepper
4. Add the paella rice, the Pallero seasoning and smoked paprika and stir to combine
5. Add half the stock and the passata 
6. Simmer for 15 minutes stirring gently only occasionally to stop the rice sticking to the pan, adding more stock as required
7. Add the chicken, chorizo, peas, prawns, half the flat leaf parsley and the juice of a lemon.
8. Cook for approximately 5 minutes until the prawns are pink and the rice is tender and has absorbed all the liquid
9. Top with the wedged lemons and the rest of the flat leaf parsley and serve straight from the pan with a large glass of Rioja

The benefit of raw prawns is that as soon as they turn from grey to pink they are ready to eat. so you know they're not overcooked. You will have to remove the black vein running through each one as pictured because they are not good to eat. 

*To give this dish a really authentic flavour I use Paellero paella seasoning which I first discovered in Spain and brought back whenever I got the chance. It's now readily available online and worth searching out so do Google it.

Doodles by Jo Read!