7. one-pot Paella
For the lazy chef
In case you missed last week’s Kitchen Diaries post, check it out here.
As the designated family chef, I often decide what we’re having on the weekends. Having laid out the eleven cookbooks we have stacked on our shelves, it was decided after much debate that we would have a Spanish Paella.
Paella was originally farmers' and farm labourers' food, cooked by the workers over a wood fire for the lunchtime meal. It was made with rice, in addition to whatever else they had around such as tomatoes, onions and beans. Paella is a rice dish originally from Valencia. While it is commonly viewed by non-Spaniards as Spain's national dish, Spaniards almost unanimously consider it to be a dish from the Valencia region. Valencian’s, in turn, regard paella as one of their identifying symbols.
My Colombian neighbour cooks her recipe in a pressure cooker, while the recipe I’ve opted for just requires a cast iron pot (casserole dish) and an oven.
This recipe comes from Rukmini Iyer’s The Roasting Tin Around The World cookbook. It is a no-fuss, flavour-packed dish. Iyer’s easy to follow cookbooks have made her recipes a household regular.
Spanish Paella
Ingredients
1 red onion, chopped
2 red peppers, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, grated
6 free-range skinless, boneless chicken thighs
150g chorizo, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 generous pinches of saffron
250g paella rice
600ml hot chicken stock
2 lemon, juice only and for wedges for serving
Parsley, roughly chopped for serving
Pinch of sea salt, to taste
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6.
Tip the onion, peppers, garlic, chicken thighs, chorizo and olive oil into a roasting tin or a flat lidded casserole dish large enough to hold everything in roughly one layer (it’s OK if there’s a bit of overlap). Transfer to the oven and roast for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, pop the saffron strands into a mug with a couple of tablespoons of boiling water, and set aside.
Once the chicken and peppers have had 25 minutes, remove the tin from the oven and stir through the paella rice, hot chicken stock, and steeped saffron along with the saffron water. Cover tightly with foil or the lid (this is important so the rice cooks), then return the dish to the oven at 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4 for a further hour, until the rice is cooked through.
Once the paella is cooked, add a dash more hot chicken stock or boiling water to adjust the texture as you wish, squeeze over the lemon juice, taste and adjust the salt as needed, then serve hot, scattered with parsley and lemon wedges alongside.
If you have any cookbook or recipe suggestions? My DMs are always open @natcrx or let’s chat in the comments below!