John Paella is associated with a wonderful Spanish heritage. There are many versions and variations to paella, including seafood versions. This version has chicken and chorizo as the main ingredients.
The chicken and chorizo provide a perfect blend and base to the paella. The onion, capsicum and garlic that is mixed through add to the flavour. The saffron threads, pepper and smoked paprika provide a lovely subtle heat to the dish. Simmered in stock and tomatoes and finished with peas and parsley and you have a fantastic Spanish inspired meal.
Making paella can be an ‘involved’ process with several steps to follow. However it is not complex to make and as long as you keep to the steps all should turn out well. It’s best to have all your ingredients prepared and ready to go before you start. Once you get everything into the pan and start simmering you can then relax a little.
Just remember to stir on a regular basis while simmering. This is particularly important when you get near the end of the simmering phase and most of the liquid has either been absorbed or evaporated. At this point you want to turn the ingredients over in the pan to prevent them remaining on the bottom of the pan and burning.
This version can be made with or without a paella pan. Many people don’t have a paella pan as it is not a regularly made dish. I do have a paella pan, however I made this version using my frying pan.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 4 tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 Chicken Fillets breast fillets cut into bite size pieces
- 2 Chorizo Sausages
- 1 large Brown Onion
- 1 Red Capsicum diced
- 3 cloves Garlic crushed
- 2 1/2 cups Arborio Rice
- 4 cups Chicken Stock use stock cubes
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 pinch Saffron Threads
- 1 tsp Garlic Salt
- 400 g Diced Tomatoes 1 can of tomatoes
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup Peas I use frozen straight out of refrigerator
- 1/4 cup Fresh parsley finely diced - use continental / flat leaf parsley
- Salt to season
- Pepper to season
Ingredients
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- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.
- Add onion and capsicum and cook until vegetables begin to soften and start to brown. About 5 minutes or so.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant. About 30 - 60 seconds depending on heat of your pan.
- Remove all ingredients from the pan and set aside.
- Add 2 tbsp olive oil to the pan and add chicken and chorizo and cook until about 50% or so done. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add rice to pan and cook to toast for about 3 minutes. Rice will start to lightly darken in colour. Stir regularly.
- Add 1 tsp pepper, smoked paprika & saffron threads to chicken stock and stir to mix through.
- Add chicken stock mixture to rice in pan and stir to mix through.
- Add chicken, chorizo, onion & capsicum mixture back to pan and stir to mix through
- Add diced tomatoes, 1 cup water to pan and stir to mix through.
- Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 - 25 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Depending on the heat of your pan you may need to simmer a little longer for the liquid to fully absorb or you may need to add a little more water if it absorbs too quickly and the rice is not yet tender.
- Add frozen peas and parsley and stir to mix through. Cook for a further 1- 2 minutes to heat the peas.
- Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if required. I did not add any at this stage but add it to your preference.
- Garnish with lemon wedges and serve.
You definitely need to use a large frying pan or paella pan for this dish as it does create a substantial sized meal that all need to fit into one pan.
Leftovers can be easily frozen and reheated at a later time.
