Wednesday 28 December 2011

Paella..paella

Nothing better than a bit of rice following the Christmas meat'n cheese carnage! Having said that I can't believe I didn't actually have any cheese this Christmas apart from cheese on toast we had on Boxing Day! Not even one chunk of stilton, the good thing I suppose is that for once I didn't feel stuffed like the turkey and hopefully I can still get into my dress on NYE!

Paella has got to be one of my favourite things to make, not only cos it's easy (easier than risotto) but you don't need to cut anything before you eat you and the only thing you need to slightly chew is the chorizo and prawns! Absolute comfort food after days of boozing and crunching on roasties and sprouts!

Top Tip Essential: Buy a sachet of paella spice mix! They sell it now in Tesco, luckily I have been blessed with my parents going to spain and bringing me endless boxes of the spanish stuff! Thank you Mum!


Crucials:
One sachet of paella spices. I use x two sachets of 'El unico Paellero (Carmencita)
Two lemons
Half a pack of Paella Rice (you can buy at any supermarket)
One large red pepper
One tin of chopped tomatoes
One large chorizo sausage
Packet of raw king prawns
One big spoonfull of peas (frozen are fine)
One large onion
Two cloves of garlic
Two pints of chicken stock
Six mushrooms
One large glass of white wine
Glug of olive oil
Parmesan

Paella Paella

  • Chop the onion and crush the garlic and fry gently in the oil in a large frying pan
  • Add the mushrooms and red pepper once the onions have softened
  • At the same time, chop up the chorizo into quarter chunks, each slice in four and fry in a separate pan, no oil needed, gently fry till a little bit crispy
  • Squeeze half a lemon into the onion mix and fry for two mins
  • Add the rice to the frying pan and mix until each piece is coated in the oil
  • Mix in the sachets of paella mix and coat the paella rice, should be bright paella yellow
  • Fry for approx three minutes
  • Add the wine to the rice mix and let it gently boil until most of the wine is absorbed
  • Pour in half the chicken stock and let it boil and then turn down to gently simmer
  • You need to keep stirring  it regularly but not as often as risotto so the rice doesn't stick to the pan
  • Add the peas straight from frozen into the rice 
  • Add the tin of chopped tomatoes and stir in
  • Let it cook for five/ten mins stirring occasionally
  • Add the remainder of the chicken stock and place the prawns on top evenly around the pan, let it cook for a few minutes before stirring in to ensure all prawns are cooked through evenly
  • Add salt and pepper
  • Squeeze in the rest of the lemon juice and stir
  • Add the chorizo but do not pour all the chorizo oil in, you can add a teaspoon in for taste 
  • Cook gently until all liquid is absorbed and rice is plump and paella consistency

Serve with parmesan cheese and fresh basil and a chunk of lemon squeezed over the top! 






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