Heavenly Paella
Ingredients
Serves 4
For the marinade:
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- Juice 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, dry roasted and pounded to a fine powder in a pestle and mortar
- 2 chicken breasts, sliced horizontally through the middle and cut into thin strips
For the Paella:
- 1 onion, peeled and finely diced
- 1/2 fennel bulb, finely diced
- 1 red pepper, finely sliced
- 1/2 courgette, grated on the large grate with the skin on
- 250g risotto rice
- 800 pre-boiled stock or water with vegetable bouillon
- 150ml white wine
- 100g chorizo, thinly sliced
- 16 large prawns, optional
- Handful of chopped chives
- 25g Parmesan, grated
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 spring onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 lemon, cut into wedges to garnish
Timings
Prep time: 15 minutes plus marinading time
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes plus marinading time
Heavenly Paella
Ooooh Paella. Such a creamy, fragrant pan of delicousness. Quite simple to make and luxurious to enjoy! I love adding freshness to it. For me, the brightness of the red peppers and chopped spring onions and chives at the end are just as important as the surprises of prawns, chorizo and chicken. By marinading the chicken beforehand and slicing it really thinly, it will remain lovely and succulent.
Method
You’ll need a large frying pan or paella dish.
Put all the marinade ingredients together and add the chicken strips. Leave to marinade for anything between 30 minutes and 12 hours.
Place the oil in the frying pan or paella dish and add the onion and fennel. Sautee over a medium heat until soft and translucent. Add the risotto rice and peppers and stir for 3 minutes until coated in oil. Add the wine and stir until the liquid has been absorbed. Add the stock in with a ladle and stir until the liquid is absorbed once again. Then add another ladle and stir. Keep repeating this process until you have used half of the stock.
Add the chicken and chorizo slices and stir. Return to adding the stock ladle by ladle stirring in between until the liquid has been absorbed.
When you have 100ml of stock left add the prawns, grated courgette, butter and Parmesan. Season well with salt and pepper and keep stirring for 3 minutes. Once you have finished the all the stock take it off the heat and leave to rest for 3 minutes.
Sprinkle over the spring onions, and chives and serve with extra lemon wedges and salad.
DOWNLOAD OR PRINT RECIPE HERE.
I like to serve it in the middle of the table with a large serving spoon, Cotswold Gold chilli oil, lemon wedges and extra Parmesan. It needs a green salad or lightly cooked green vegetables to lift it and add a contrast in texture to your palette.”Ā
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