There are hundreds of versions of the dish Paella and all are delicious in their own way. The whole idea of a Paella is that you can add what you want to it – it is a traditional Spanish dish which uses up leftovers.
This is my recipe, which is a simple mixed Paella. I find doing Paella for dinner parties is perfect because you can cook it, pop the lid on and sit down and enjoy a starter without worrying about it spoiling. A great simple, fresh, spanish starter is to serve slices of melon with some good quality slices of Serrano ham. Very, very simple but really delicious.
Paella for two greedy people (Or if you are serving starters and desserts it will easily feed three)
200g Paella rice or arborio rice
1 Litre chicken stock (can be a good stock cube)
1 White onion finely chopped
2 Cloves of garlic finely chopped
Pinch of saffron and pinch of paprika
Half a red pepper sliced
Some cooked chicken (up to you how much, preferably leg or thigh meat)
Around 10-12 cooked prawns.
Half a chorizo or even 8-10 slices of the salami style chorizo (much cheaper!)
1 Lemon
1. Put some olive oil in a pan and fry the onion until soft, add the garlic and cook for a further 1-2 minutes.
2. Add the chorizo and peppers and cook for a few minutes. Throw in the rice and stir round in the juices for 1-2 minutes.
3. Meanwhile put the saffron in a small bowl add a few tablespoons of warm water and let it dissolve a little.
4. Pour half of the stock in the pan, add the saffron and the paprika and stir. Bring to a simmer and leave until it starts to soak up the stock.
5. Add the rest of the stock and throw in the chicken and prawns. It will take a further 10-15mins. Really you just need to wait until all the liquid is absorbed. You could add shellfish or other vegetables if you wanted.
6. Serve with the lemon wedges.
Although this dish contains shellfish and chicken I find a nice red wine, such as a classic Rioja, goes well with the strong flavours.
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